Tracking changes to "/etc" with git for backup

Tracking the /etc directory with git is a common procedure within the Gentoo community - although tools exist to solve configuration file change management (such as dispatch-conf or etckeeper).

Quick and dirty

The gist of dirty configuration file management with git is as follows:

1. Change to the /etc directory:

   root #cd /etc

   Initialize a new git repository:

   root #git init

   Commit initial the initial state and any further known good revisions:

   root #git add * # add all files not in git to the .gitignore file

   root #git commit -m 'required'

2. To investigate revisions:

   root #git rev-list #display all revisions

3. To checkout/load a specific revision:

   root #git checkout #<(insert a revision hash here>

4. To revert unwanted changes:

   root #git reset --hard # undo all changes from revision checked out

   • Alternatively:

     root #git reset

     root #git checkout .

See also

• dispatch-conf — a utility included with Portage, used to safely and conveniently manage configuration files after package updates.
• etckeeper — a collection of tools to store /etc in a VCS (version control) repository, to keep a backup of changes to system configuration files