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UPDATE-ALTERNATIVES(8) System Manager's Manual UPDATE-ALTERNATIVES(8)
NAME
alternatives - maintain symbolic links determining default commands
SYNOPSIS
alternatives [options] --install link name path priority [--slave link name path]...
[--initscript service] [--family name]
alternatives [options] --remove name path
alternatives [options] --set name path
alternatives [options] --auto name
alternatives [options] --display name
alternatives [options] --config name
alternatives [options] --list name
DESCRIPTION
alternatives creates, removes, maintains and displays information about the symbolic links
comprising the alternatives system. The alternatives system is a reimplementation of the
Debian alternatives system. It was rewritten primarily to remove the dependence on perl;
it is intended to be a drop in replacement for Debian's update-dependencies script. This
man page is a slightly modified version of the man page from the Debian project.
It is possible for several programs fulfilling the same or similar functions to be
installed on a single system at the same time. For example, many systems have several
text editors installed at once. This gives choice to the users of a system, allowing each
to use a different editor, if desired, but makes it difficult for a program to make a good
choice of editor to invoke if the user has not specified a particular preference.
The alternatives system aims to solve this problem. A generic name in the filesystem is
shared by all files providing interchangeable functionality. The alternatives system and
the system administrator together determine which actual file is referenced by this
generic name. For example, if the text editors ed(1) and nvi(1) are both installed on the
system, the alternatives system will cause the generic name /usr/bin/editor to refer to
/usr/bin/nvi by default. The system administrator can override this and cause it to refer
to /usr/bin/ed instead, and the alternatives system will not alter this setting until
explicitly requested to do so.
The generic name is not a direct symbolic link to the selected alternative. Instead, it
is a symbolic link to a name in the alternatives directory, which in turn is a symbolic
link to the actual file referenced. This is done so that the system administrator's
changes can be confined within the /etc directory: the FHS (q.v.) gives reasons why this
is a Good Thing.
When each package providing a file with a particular functionality is installed, changed
or removed, alternatives is called to update information about that file in the alterna-
tives system. alternatives is usually called from the %post or %pre scripts in RPM pack-
ages.
It is often useful for a number of alternatives to be synchronised, so that they are
changed as a group; for example, when several versions of the vi(1) editor are installed,
the man page referenced by /usr/share/man/man1/vi.1 should correspond to the executable
referenced by /usr/bin/vi. alternatives handles this by means of master and slave links;
when the master is changed, any associated slaves are changed too. A master link and its
associated slaves make up a link group.
Each link group is, at any given time, in one of two modes: automatic or manual. When a
group is in automatic mode, the alternatives system will automatically decide, as packages
are installed and removed, whether and how to update the links. In manual mode, the
alternatives system will not change the links; it will leave all the decisions to the sys-
tem administrator.
Link groups are in automatic mode when they are first introduced to the system. If the
system administrator makes changes to the system's automatic settings, this will be
noticed the next time alternatives is run on the changed link's group, and the group will
automatically be switched to manual mode.
Each alternative has a priority associated with it. When a link group is in automatic
mode, the alternatives pointed to by members of the group will be those which have the
highest priority.
When using the --config option, alternatives will list all of the choices for the link
group of which given name is the master link. You will then be prompted for which of the
choices to use for the link group. Once you make a change, the link group will no longer
be in auto mode. You will need to use the --auto option in order to return to the auto-
matic state.
TERMINOLOGY
Since the activities of alternatives are quite involved, some specific terms will help to
explain its operation.
generic name
A name, like /usr/bin/editor, which refers, via the alternatives system, to one of
a number of files of similar function.
symlink
Without any further qualification, this means a symbolic link in the alternatives
directory: one which the system administrator is expected to adjust.
alternative
The name of a specific file in the filesystem, which may be made accessible via a
generic name using the alternatives system.
alternatives directory
A directory, by default /etc/alternatives, containing the symlinks.
administrative directory
A directory, by default /var/lib/alternatives, containing alternatives' state
information.
link group
A set of related symlinks, intended to be updated as a group.
master link
The link in a link group which determines how the other links in the group are con-
figured.
slave link
A link in a link group which is controlled by the setting of the master link.
automatic mode
When a link group is in automatic mode, the alternatives system ensures that the
links in the group point to the highest priority alternatives appropriate for the
group.
manual mode
When a link group is in manual mode, the alternatives system will not make any
changes to the system administrator's settings.
OPTIONS
Exactly one action must be specified if alternatives is to perform any meaningful task.
Any number of the common options may be specified together with any action.
COMMON OPTIONS
--verbose
Generate more comments about what alternatives is doing.
--quiet
Don't generate any comments unless errors occur. This option is not yet imple-
mented.
--test Don't actually do anything, just say what would be done. This option is not yet
implemented.
--help Give some usage information (and say which version of alternatives this is).
--version
Tell which version of alternatives this is (and give some usage information).
--keep-missing
When switching between alternatives, if the new variant does not provide some
files, keep the links pointed to the previous implementation. It prevents issues
with missing files due to switching between versions.
--altdir directory
Specifies the alternatives directory, when this is to be different from the
default.
--admindir directory
Specifies the administrative directory, when this is to be different from the
default.
ACTIONS
--install link name path priority [--slave slink sname spath] [--initscript service]...
Add a group of alternatives to the system. name is the generic name for the master
link, link is the name of its symlink, path is the alternative being introduced for
the master link, and priority is the priority of the alternatives group. Higher
priorities take precendence if no alternative is manually selected. sname, slink
and spath are the generic name, symlink name and alternative for a slave link, and
service is the name of any associated initscript for the alternative. NOTE:
--initscript and --family are a Red Hat Linux specific options. Zero or more
--slave options, each followed by three arguments, may be specified.
If the master symlink specified exists already in the alternatives system's
records, the information supplied will be added as a new set of alternatives for
the group. Otherwise, a new group, set to automatic mode, will be added with this
information. If the group is in automatic mode, and the newly added alternatives'
priority is higher than any other installed alternatives for this group, the sym-
links will be updated to point to the newly added alternatives.
If --initscript is used, the alternatives system will manage the initscript associ-
ated with the alternative via chkconfig, registering and unregistering the init
script depending on which alternative is active.
NOTE: --initscript is a Red Hat Linux specific option.
--family can be used to group similar alternatives. If the group is in manual mode
and the alternative currently used is removed, alternatives will try to change
links to different one with same family and highest priority.
NOTE: --family is a Red Hat Linux specific option.
--remove name path
Remove an alternative and all of its associated slave links. name is a name in the
alternatives directory, and path is an absolute filename to which name could be
linked. If name is indeed linked to path, name will be updated to point to another
appropriate alternative, or removed if there is no such alternative left. Associ-
ated slave links will be updated or removed, correspondingly. If the link is not
currently pointing to path, no links are changed; only the information about the
alternative is removed.
--set name path
The symbolic link and slaves for link group name set to those configured for path,
and the link group is set to manual mode. This option is not in the original
Debian implementation.
--config name
Present the user with a configuration menu for choosing the master link and slaves
for link group name. Once chosen, the link group is set to manual mode.
--auto name
Switch the master symlink name to automatic mode. In the process, this symlink and
its slaves are updated to point to the highest priority installed alternatives.
--display name
Display information about the link group of which name is the master link. Infor-
mation displayed includes the group's mode (auto or manual), which alternative the
symlink currently points to, what other alternatives are available (and their cor-
responding slave alternatives), and the highest priority alternative currently
installed.
--list Display information about all link groups.
FILES
/etc/alternatives/
The default alternatives directory. Can be overridden by the --altdir option.
/var/lib/alternatives/
The default administration directory. Can be overridden by the --admindir option.
EXIT STATUS
0 The requested action was successfully performed.
2 Problems were encountered whilst parsing the command line or performing the action.
DIAGNOSTICS
alternatives chatters incessantly about its activities on its standard output channel. If
problems occur, alternatives outputs error messages on its standard error channel and
returns an exit status of 2. These diagnostics should be self-explanatory; if you do not
find them so, please report this as a bug.
BUGS
If you find a bug, please report it using the Red Hat bug tracking system at
http://bugzilla.redhat.com.
If you find any discrepancy between the operation of alternatives and this manual page, it
is a bug, either in the implementation or the documentation; please report it. Any sig-
nificant differences between this implementation and Debian's is also a bug and should be
reported, unless otherwise noted in this man page.
AUTHOR
alternatives is copyright 2002 Red Hat, Inc.. It is free software; see the GNU General
Public Licence version 2 or later for copying conditions. There is NO warranty.
This manual page is copyright 1997/98 Charles Briscoe-Smith and 2002 Red Hat, Inc. This
is free documentation; see the GNU General Public Licence version 2 or later for copying
conditions. There is NO WARRANTY.
SEE ALSO
ln(1), FHS, the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. alternatives.c chkconfig.c COPYING lev-
eldb.c leveldb.h Makefile ntsysv.c ook
27 January 2001 UPDATE-ALTERNATIVES(8)
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