BASE-CONFIG(8)

NAME
base-config - Debian base system configuration

SYNOPSIS
base-config

DESCRIPTION
base-config is the program that was run when you first rebooted into your newly installed debian system. It walks you through setting up the system and downloading additional software, and so forth. The program can be run at any later date to walk you through essentially the same process again.

IMPLEMENTTION
base-config is implemented as a wrapper script which runs each program in /usr/lib/base-config/, in numerical order. If this is a fresh install onto a new debian system, each program receives "new" as its first argument.

base-config checks the return codes of each of the programs. Programs may return > 0 and < 10 to indicate errors. Returns codes between 10 and 100 may be used to jump to the program nearest the returned number, which can be used to jump forwards or backwards in the base-config process.

Other packages can drop programs into /usr/lib/base-config/, and those programs will become part of the base configuration process. It is very strongly encouraged that any such programs communicate with the user entirely via debconf, so that the base configuration maintains a consistent and professional look.

FILES
Every base-config run is logged to /var/log/installer.log.

/root/dbootstrap_settings, if it exists, is sources by base-config and numerous environment variables set therein are used to control base-config's behavior. The mere presence of this file, which is created by dbootstrap during a fresh debian install, makes base-config do all the things it only does on a fresh install.

ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variables influence base-config. These variables may be set at run time, or for new installs, may be passed to the kernel at the lilo (or other bootloader) command line. Consult your boot loader's documentation for details. For example, lilo can be booted with something like "linux DEBIAN_FRONTEND=readline".

DEBIAN_FRONTEND

DEBIAN_PRIORITY

DEBCONF_DEBUG

DEBCONF_TERSE
    Control various things about debconf. See debconf(8)

KEEP_BASE_DEBS
    By default, base-config deletes the debs that debootstrap used to install the base system. This is useful on very low disk installs. If you don't want that to be done, and prefer that the debs be kept, set this variable to "yes".

AUTHOR
Joey Hess <joey@kitenet.net>