Don't let mergemaster beat you down [was Re: Failed update]

[Mel Flynn]

On Tuesday 11 August 2009 05:23:28 Arthur Chance wrote:
> Wayne Sierke wrote:
> > I lost practically all of my 'mergemaster pain' when I adopted the habit
> > of using it with -iUP options:
> >
> >         -i	Automatically install any files that do not exist in the des-
> >                 tination directory.
> >         -P	Preserve files that you replace in
> >                 /var/tmp/mergemaster/preserved-files-<date>, or another
> >                 directory you specify in your mergemaster rc file.
> >         -U	Attempt to auto upgrade files that have not been user modi-
> >                 fied.
>
> How does -U compare to -F? I've found that saves a lot of tedium.

-U saves a lot on major version upgrades as that tends to have a lot of 
changes in /etc/rc.*, something most of us don't touch by hand. However, the 
feature depends on having a fingerprint of the files, so that mergemaster can 
determine if you changed the file. Before using the feature and before 
upgrading it's therefore recommended to do a dry run so that the file 
(/var/db/mergemaster.mtree) is created.
-- 
Mel