editing .conf files from CLI

[slowmotion]

hello
i was wondering how can i edit a .conf file using the debian CLI
i tried doing it by accessing to the file graphically, but it wouldn't allow me to do changes on it, since i should have access as root
so i'm root on CLI, but the problem is i don't know how to edit the file from there (by "edit the file" i mean insert configuration lines in it)
anyone can help?
thanks

[roseway]

Many different ways, but the CLI editor nano is easy to use and does the job very well.

nano <filename>

[slowmotion]

thanks a lot
i also encountered something called "gedit <filename>", it opens the file in graphic mode, but with root privileges (if executed as root)

[nadir]

gedit is a gui-editor.
To start it as you you will have to open it with gksu:

Code: Select all

gksu gedit <filename>

Or

Code: Select all

gksu gedit 

and open the file from the menu-bar. You might also do both commands from a command-prompt.

There is a howto about opening gui-apps as root in the how-to-section (by craigevil). I will add the link in a sec.
Voila, i am back:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=53366

[Telemachus]

If it's an important file (this is a general tip, not just for .conf files), and you are not very comfortable with the CLI, you should always make a backup first.

Here's one way to do that:

Code: Select all

cp -v /path/to/file.conf ~/file.conf-$(date "+%Y-%m-%d")

That makes a copy of the file with a simple datestamp in your home directory. After you make the copy, you can switch to root (if needed) and edit however you like. If things go very wrong, you still have the backup.

[slowmotion]

thank you nadir and telemachus

[Telemachus]

You're welcome. Now that I think of it, I just wrote up a more detailed walk-through of this kind of thing in another thread. Check that out if you think it may help. For what it's worth, I think every Debian user should have at least a basic comfort level editing files in the CLI, just in case something ever happens and you can't get at the GUI. But there's certainly nothing wrong with using Gedit for most of your work.

[jollysnowman]

But there's certainly nothing wrong with using Gedit for most of your work.

::looks down in guilt::

I just like the syntax highlighting...

[Telemachus]

But there's certainly nothing wrong with using Gedit for most of your work.

::looks down in guilt::

I just like the syntax highlighting...

Hmm. Vim and Emacs do that, no? (In the terminal, too. And in a modern terminal, you can usually get 256 color support as well.)

[jollysnowman]

vim can do that? I guess I never bothered to look into it. And I never got used to emacs; I learned vi first and the emacs commands just felt unnatural.

[AMLJ]

I love Vim, very cool one!
I suggest you use it!

[nadir]

vim can do that? I guess I never bothered to look into it. And I never got used to emacs; I learned vi first and the emacs commands just felt unnatural.

http://a.imageshack.us/img821/5853/editorshigh.png
left side: gedit. Top: gedit itself. Bottom: embedded-terminal in gedit with vim.
right site: terminal. Top: nano. Bottom: the missing emacs.
The question is not: which one has highlighting, but is there any editor out there without it?

Those commands:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 15#p309829
should get you going.

Two links:
http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/Vim
ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/doc/book/vimbook-OPL.pdf

I like gedit too.