NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     changelist - list of backup files

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     /etc/changelist

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The /etc/changelist file is a simple  text  file  containing
the names of
     files  to  be  backed up and checked for modification by the
system security
     script, security(8).  It is checked daily by the  /etc/daily
script.  See
     daily(8) for further details.

     Each line of the file contains the name of a file, specified
by its absolute
 pathname, one  per  line.   By  default,  configuration
files in /etc,
     /root,  and  /var are added during system install.  Administrators may add
     additional files at their discretion.

     Backup files are held  in  the  directory  /var/backups.   A
backup of the
     current  version of a file is kept in this directory, marked
"current".
     When the file is altered,  the  old  version  is  marked  as
"backup" and the
     new version becomes "current".

     For example, the system shell database, /etc/shells, is held
as
     /var/backups/etc_shells.current.  When this  file  is  modified, it is renamed
  to /var/backups/etc_shells.backup and the new version
becomes
     /var/backups/etc_shells.current.   Thereafter,  these  files
are rotated.

     Diffs  are  mailed  to  the  root  administrator, in unified
diff(1) format,
     via daily(8), in the following format:

           =====
           /etc/shells diffs (-OLD  -NEW)
           =====

     Files in /etc/changelist  beginning  with  a  `+'  character
(generally nontext
  files)  are  stored  as md5(1) checksums.  Results are
mailed in the
     following format:

           ======
           /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key MD5 checksums
           ======
           OLD:
           NEW:

     Lines beginning with  the  comment  character  (`#'),  blank
lines, and nonexistent
 files are all silently ignored.

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

     /etc/changelist  Default changelist.
     /etc/daily        Maintenance script which runs security(8).
     /etc/security    Shell script which reads /etc/changelist.
     /var/backups/    Directory containing file backups.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     diff(1), md5(1), daily(8), security(8)

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     The changelist manual page first appeared in OpenBSD 3.5.

CAVEATS    [Toc]    [Back]

     Anyone with the privileges  to  alter  system  configuration
files could also
     alter  the  backup  files  in /var/backups.  It is important
that this directory
 be owned by root:wheel and have permissions 0700 set.

     Removal of the /etc/changelist file itself could cause  confusion.

     changelist  cannot  warn about files being added to the system.

     If you hose your system configuration files, you just  might
be able to
     find  the information you need in /var/backups.  This is not
a CAVEAT, but
     we had to warn you somehow!

OpenBSD     3.6                       September     11,      2003