[Debconf-devel] Bug#761034: debconf-set-selections is ignored

[Joey Hess]

Harald Dunkel wrote:
> Looking at the output of debconf-get-selections and the
> preset values shown by dpkg-reconfigure it seems to me
> that sometimes they do not match. Example: If I change
> the database for mdadm using
> 
> echo -e "mdadm\tmdadm/mail_to\tstring\tmonitoring at example.com" | debconf-set-selections
> debconf-get-selections | grep ^mdadm
> 
> then I can see the new value in the output of debconf-\
> get-selections, but dpkg-reconfigure still uses the old
> value.
> 
> Seems that there are 2 databases. This is confusing and
> unexpected. How can I change the real one for a non-
> interactive reconfiguration?
> 
> This problem is not restricted to mdadm. exim4-config
> doesn't play nice, either. I am sure there are more.

There are not 2 databases.

It's up to individual packages how they deal with debconf settings.
In general, the current configuration of the system is preferred over
what is in the debconf cache when reconfiguring a package. It's often
considered a bug if a package uses some, possibly old value from the
debconf cache and blows away local admin changes to the system. 

Debconf preseeding is not really intended to be used with dpkg-reconfigure,
but instead to be done before a package is installed for the first time.

-- 
see shy jo
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