Debian – How to check for modified config files on a Debian system

configurationdebianpackages

How to find all Debian managed configuration files which have been changed from the default?

Best Answer

To find all Debian managed configuration files which have been changed from the default you can use a command like this.

dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}\n' '*' | awk 'OFS="  "{print $2,$1}' | md5sum -c 2>/dev/null | awk -F': ' '$2 !~ /OK/{print $1}'

Edit (works with localized systems):

dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}\n' '*' | awk 'OFS="  "{print $2,$1}' | LANG=C md5sum -c 2>/dev/null | awk -F': ' '$2 !~ /OK/{print $1}' | sort | less

Edit (works with packages with OK in the filename):

dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}\n' '*' | awk 'OFS="  "{print $2,$1}' | LANG=C md5sum -c 2>/dev/null | awk -F': ' '$2 !~ /OK$/{print $1}' | sort | less