when configuring something from the GUI, are the config files altered?
 

Hi.
I'm completely new to Linux.I've Installed Debian on a VM and have been configuring network settings via both the GUI and the \etc\network\interfaces config file.

When I configured network settings via Network GUI Tools ,I was expecting the config file to be changed accordingly but It remained the same.

My question Is what Is the relationship between the config files , the GUI and configuration using terminal commands such as ifconfig?

Let's find out what else has changed.....
 

Not sure what you've changed or where to look for the changes, but yet, using the GUI will change the config if the GUI saves its work. Let's look further afield - try making a change then do this:

find /etc -type f -mmin -5

Looks in "/etc" for files of type f(ile) that were changed within the last 5 minutes. See if that helps you monitor what's moving and where.

Hi.I Just saw this reply.I thought no one answered.I'll take a look and thanks!

It really depends on the tool. If you are configuring with NetworkManager, it does save configuration, but it does not use the native Debian configuration tools to do so. According to the Debian wiki for NetworkManager, it will not manage networks that are in the interfaces file.

Wicd also does not modify the interfaces file.

Most distros do not even use that file, and most of the GUI utilities are distro independent. They use other daemons to do the actual work of bringing up an interface.