Does Ubuntu have a command line configuration tool

Question

I'm looking for a command line tool to configure Ubuntu 20+. (Firewall, Users, Networking, Services, Hardware.) Just like Suse has Yast, and CentOS has the Setup tool.

I know Ubuntu used to have Ubuntu-tweak, but that has been discontinued, and its successors don't seem to have command line support. And I really don't want to run a gui (gnome/unity/etc).

Is there such a tool available?

Answer 1

I'm not aware that there is a single command-line tool for configuring everything. However, Ubuntu have a number of different options available:

1. Some command-line tools exist to provide an easier interface for specific purposes, e.g.:

   • ufw - program for managing a netfilter/iptables firewall
   • adduser, addgroup - add a user or group to the system

2. Another method is using "generic" configuration files accompanied by a command-line tool. Netplan is a good example of this. Netplan uses .yaml configuration files located in /etc/netplan/, and the command netplan <option> is used to apply the configuration, get system info etc.

3. Some packages allow you to run sudo dpkg-reconfigure <package name>. This will rerun the Debian installer (debconf) in the chosen mode (dialog, readline, Gnome etc.), if this is included in the post installation script for the package. Many packages support this option - postfix is a good example.

   • In addition, running dpkg --configure -a will configure all unconfigured packages (see this Q&A).

4. Finally, for an all-round configuration tool with a ton of modules there is Webmin, which provides an intuitive web-interface to configure various elements of Unix and Linux systems. This is especially useful for servers. The default module list is quite extensive, and there are additional 3rd party modules available.

   • Installation instructions for Ubuntu are on the Webmin website as well.