debconf

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disambiguation : This page is about Debian configuration management system.
For Debian Conferences, see DebConf.

debconf is, to put it simply, "Install Shield Wizards Done Right", and is one of the main advantages of Debian-based distributions.

When you install or upgrade packages, debconf asks all their configuration questions at once, and stores the answers in a database. Then when each package installs itself, its scripts use the preferences from the database. This saves the hassle of editing configuration files by hand, and also of waiting for each individual package to install before responding to certain configuration questions.

To change the default interface and which questions to prompt/skip, type in a console:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure debconf

the interface sets how debconf asks questions - plain text prompts, text-based menus, Gnome windows, etc.
the priority sets which questions debconf asks - only questions that could break the system, every unimportant detail, or somewhere in between

To reconfigure some other package, do:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure <package>

For example, dpkg-reconfigure locales reconfigures your locales.

See also