Datasheet

“main” (Installation and Administration) — 2004/6/25 — 13:29 — page 274 — #300
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Caution
Changing Runlevel Settings
Faulty runlevel settings may render a system unusable. Before
applying your changes, make absolutely sure you know about
their consequences.
Caution
11.6 SuSEconfig and /etc/sysconfig
The main configuration of SUSE LINUX can be made with the configu-
ration files in /etc/sysconfig/. In the past, SUSE LINUX relied on
/etc/rc.config for system configuration, but it became obsolete in pre-
vious versions. /etc/rc.config is not created at installation time, as
all system configuration is controlled by /etc/sysconfig/. However,
if /etc/rc.config exists at the time of a system update, it remains intact.
The individual files in /etc/sysconfig/ are only read by the scripts
to which they are relevant. This ensures that network settings, for in-
stance, need to be parsed only by network-related scripts. Many other
system configuration files are generated according to the settings in
/etc/sysconfig/. This task is performed by SuSEconfig. For exam-
ple, if you change the network configuration, SuSEconfig is likely to make
changes to the file /etc/host.conf as well, as this is one of the files rele-
vant for the network configuration.
If you change anything in these files manually, run SuSEconfig after-
wards to make sure all the necessary changes are made in all the relevant
places. If you change the configuration using the YaST sysconfig editor,
all changes are applied automatically, because YaST automatically starts
SuSEconfig to update the configuration files as needed.
This concept enables you to make basic changes to your configuration
without needing to reboot the system. Because some changes are rather
complex, some programs must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
For instance, changes to the network configuration may require a restart
of the network programs concerned. This can be achieved by entering the
commands rcnetwork stop and rcnetwork start.
The recommended way to change the system configuration includes the
following steps:
274 11.6. SuSEconfig and /etc/sysconfig