NAME

       debconf-set-selections - insert new values into the debconf database

SYNOPSIS

        debconf-set-selections file
        debconf-get-selections | ssh newhost debconf-set-selections

DESCRIPTION

       debconf-set-selections can be used to pre-seed the debconf database with answers, or to
       change answers in the database. Each question will be marked as seen to prevent debconf
       from asking the question interactively.

       Reads from a file if a filename is given, otherwise from stdin.

WARNING

       Only use this command to seed debconf values for packages that will be or are installed.
       Otherwise you can end up with values in the database for uninstalled packages that will
       not go away, or with worse problems involving shared values. It is recommended that this
       only be used to seed the database if the originating machine has an identical install.

DATA FORMAT

       The data is a series of lines. Lines beginning with a # character are comments. Blank
       lines are ignored. All other lines set the value of one question, and should contain four
       values, each separated by one character of whitespace. The first value is the name of the
       package that owns the question. The second is the name of the question, the third value is
       the type of this question, and the fourth value (through the end of the line) is the value
       to use for the answer of the question.

       Alternatively, the third value can be "seen"; then the preseed line only controls whether
       the question is marked as seen in debconf's database. Note that preseeding a question's
       value defaults to marking that question as seen, so to override the default value without
       marking a question seen, you need two lines.

       Lines can be continued to the next line by ending them with a "\" character.

EXAMPLES

        # Force debconf priority to critical.
        debconf debconf/priority select critical

        # Override default frontend to readline, but allow user to select.
        debconf debconf/frontend select readline
        debconf debconf/frontend seen false

OPTIONS

       --verbose, -v
           verbose output

       --checkonly, -c
           only check the input file format, do not save changes to database

SEE ALSO

       debconf-get-selections(1) (available in the debconf-utils package)

AUTHOR

       Petter Reinholdtsen <pere@hungry.com>

                                            2023-01-08                  DEBCONF-SET-SELECTIONS(1)