Configuration file management

Managing configuration files is a key skill in system administration. Updated configuration files for certain system suites occasionally ship with new software releases, therefore new configuration files will need to be reconciled with ones existing on the system in a sane manner.

If the system administrator has not modified the existing configuration files, then generally newer files can be 'clobbered' (copied) over older versions. Things become a little more complicated when existing configuration files are modified beyond their original content, and a newer file contains changes that should be merged into the original. That is where configuration management systems become helpful.

Available software
Portage includes two tools in order to help system administrators manage software on the system.


 * Tool 1
 * Tool 1


 * Tool 2
 * Tool 2