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<refsection>

<refsection id='confd'>

<title>Configuration Directories and Precedence</title>

<para>Configuration files are read from directories in

<filename>/etc/</filename>, <filename>/run/</filename>, and

<filename>/usr/lib/</filename>, in order of precedence.

Each configuration file in these configuration directories shall be named in

the style of <filename><replaceable>filename</replaceable>.conf</filename>.

Files in <filename>/etc/</filename> override files with the same name in

<filename>/run/</filename> and <filename>/usr/lib/</filename>. Files in

<filename>/run/</filename> override files with the same name in

<filename>/usr/lib/</filename>.</para>

<para>Packages should install their configuration files in

<filename>/usr/lib/</filename>. Files in <filename>/etc/</filename> are

reserved for the local administrator, who may use this logic to override the

configuration files installed by vendor packages. All configuration files

are sorted by their filename in lexicographic order, regardless of which of

the directories they reside in. If multiple files specify the same option,

the entry in the file with the lexicographically latest name will take

precedence. It is recommended to prefix all filenames with a two-digit number

and a dash, to simplify the ordering of the files.</para>

<para>If the administrator wants to disable a configuration file supplied by

the vendor, the recommended way is to place a symlink to

<filename>/dev/null</filename> in the configuration directory in

<filename>/etc/</filename>, with the same filename as the vendor

configuration file.</para>

</refsection>

<refsection id='main-conf'>

<title>Configuration Directories and Precedence</title>

<para>Default configuration is defined during compilation, so a

configuration file is only needed when it is necessary to deviate

from those defaults. By default the configuration file in

<filename>&pkgsysconfdir;/</filename> contains commented out entries

showing the defaults as a guide to the administrator. This file

can be edited to create local overrides.

</para>

<para>When packages need to customize the configuration, they can

install configuration snippets in

<filename>&rootlibexecdir;/*.conf.d/</filename>. Files in

<filename>/etc/</filename> are reserved for the local

administrator, who may use this logic to override the

configuration files installed by vendor packages. The main

configuration file is read before any of the configuration

directories, and has the lowest precedence; entries in a file in

any configuration directory override entries in the single

configuration file. Files in the

<filename>*.conf.d/</filename> configuration subdirectories

are sorted by their filename in lexicographic order, regardless of

which of the subdirectories they reside in. If multiple files

specify the same option, the entry in the file with the

lexicographically latest name takes precedence. It is recommended

to prefix all filenames in those subdirectories with a two-digit

number and a dash, to simplify the ordering of the files.</para>

<para>To disable a configuration file supplied by the vendor, the

recommended way is to place a symlink to

<filename>/dev/null</filename> in the configuration directory in

<filename>/etc/</filename>, with the same filename as the vendor

configuration file.</para>

</refsection>

</refsection>