xref: /openbsd/share/man/man5/changelist.5 (revision 09467b48)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: changelist.5,v 1.9 2017/07/13 19:16:33 jmc Exp $
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3.\" Copyright (c) 2003 Jason McIntyre <jmc@openbsd.org>
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17.Dd $Mdocdate: July 13 2017 $
18.Dt CHANGELIST 5
19.Os
20.Sh NAME
21.Nm changelist
22.Nd list of backup files
23.Sh DESCRIPTION
24The
25.Pa /etc/changelist
26file is a simple text file containing the names of files to be backed up
27and checked for modification by the system security script,
28.Xr security 8 .
29It is checked daily by the
30.Pa /etc/daily
31script.
32See
33.Xr daily 8
34for further details.
35.Pp
36Each line of the file contains the name of a file,
37specified by its absolute pathname,
38one per line.
39By default, configuration files in
40.Pa /etc ,
41.Pa /root ,
42and
43.Pa /var
44are added during system install.
45Administrators may add additional files at their discretion.
46Shell globbing is supported in pathnames.
47.Pp
48Backup files are held in the directory
49.Pa /var/backups .
50A backup of the current version of a file is kept in this directory, marked
51.Qq current .
52When the file is altered, the old version is marked as
53.Qq backup
54and the new version becomes
55.Qq current .
56.Pp
57For example,
58the system shell database,
59.Pa /etc/shells ,
60is held as
61.Pa /var/backups/etc_shells.current .
62When this file is modified, it is renamed to
63.Pa /var/backups/etc_shells.backup
64and the new version becomes
65.Pa /var/backups/etc_shells.current .
66Thereafter, these files are rotated.
67.Pp
68Diffs are mailed to the root administrator, in unified
69.Xr diff 1
70format, via
71.Xr daily 8 ,
72in the following format:
73.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
74=====
75/etc/shells diffs (-OLD  +NEW)
76=====
77.Ed
78.Pp
79Files in
80.Pa /etc/changelist
81beginning with a
82.Sq +
83character
84.Pq generally non-text files
85are stored as
86.Xr sha256 1
87checksums.
88Results are mailed in the following format:
89.Bd -unfilled -offset indent
90======
91/etc/ssh/ssh_host_key SHA-256 checksums
92======
93OLD:
94NEW:
95.Ed
96.Pp
97Lines beginning with the comment character
98.Pq Sq # ,
99blank lines,
100and non-existent files are all silently ignored.
101.\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT
102.Sh FILES
103.Bl -tag -width /etc/changelist -compact
104.It Pa /etc/changelist
105Default changelist.
106.It Pa /etc/daily
107Maintenance script which runs
108.Xr security 8 .
109.It Pa /var/backups/
110Directory containing file backups.
111.El
112.Sh SEE ALSO
113.Xr diff 1 ,
114.Xr sha256 1 ,
115.Xr daily 8 ,
116.Xr security 8
117.Sh HISTORY
118The
119.Nm
120manual page first appeared in
121.Ox 3.5 .
122.Sh CAVEATS
123Anyone with the privileges to alter system configuration files
124could also alter the backup files in
125.Pa /var/backups .
126It is important that this directory be owned by root:wheel
127and have permissions 0700 set.
128.Pp
129Removal of the
130.Pa /etc/changelist
131file itself could cause confusion.
132.Pp
133.Nm
134cannot warn about files being added to the system, although
135.Xr security 8
136will pick up on any files listed in
137.Pa /etc/changelist
138being added or deleted.
139Removals are only noticed for files listed explicitly,
140but not for files matched by globbing.
141.Pp
142If you hose your system configuration files,
143you just might be able to find the information you need in
144.Pa /var/backups .
145This is not a CAVEAT, but we had to let you know somehow!
146