linux4noobs

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linux4noobs

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Editing config files safely (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/linux4noobs

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

You can backup your config files before editing them, like this:

cp configbeingedited.conf configbeingedited.conf__orig_datestring

This way, when things break or don't function how you like, you can easily copy the original config file back into position, restoring the original functionality.

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[–] astral_avocado 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I generally keep my config files stored in the GitHub repo for version control, and then actual secrets are pulled dynamically from a secret store.

[–] lambda 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Secret store? Mind sharing links on what that means? I assume it's something you can self host?

[–] astral_avocado 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Specifically AWS secrets manager, I know there's others like if you're using Ansible there's Ansible Vault. The point is that it's a separate service that keeps all your secrets encrypted at rest and to access them you need an initial authentication.

[–] zlatko 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been meaning to get the ansible thing. Not for my home computers, my dotfiles are on GitHub, SSH keys offline, stuff backed up. But I always think that if my poor hetzner box dies, I'll have a lot of fun getting it all back up :/

[–] astral_avocado 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

😂 Honestly Ansible can be a little obtuse at times, I'm having a much better time with having all my stuff defined in Docker and deployed via docker-compose or Terraform for non-self-hosted stuff. Ansible can be a lot of effort but I can also see it being better in the long run.

Then there's the NixOS people.. people swear by that. I haven't dived into that whole world yet.

[–] zlatko 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah NixOS is my other alternative, but I think that rabbit hole is much more deep than the Ansible one :)

I also manage my few self-hosted things and play-things with docker-compose on my box, but who manages docker-compose files? :) And nginx config, and network-related stuff etc etc. I am too lazy but I guess I will have to bite the bullet and after 20 years of manually doing it all and backing up raw and praying, actually figuring out the next level.