[mythtv-users] Is there an approved may to remove frontend settings?

[Daryl McDonald]

On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 4:28 PM, Raymond Wagner <raymond at wagnerrp.com> wrote:
> On 2/3/2014 3:54 PM, Daryl McDonald wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 11:15 AM, Michael T. Dean
>> <mtdean at thirdcontact.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 02/02/2014 06:00 PM, Mike Perkins wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On 02/02/14 18:23, Raymond Wagner wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> The point is that the user shouldn't be fiddling in the database to
>>>>> find
>>>>> it
>>>>> "unclean" except in the case of development, which would more
>>>>> appropriately
>>>>> belong on the -dev list.
>>>>>
>>>> Perhaps. But when a simple OS upgrade suddenly causes all your mythtv
>>>> settings to disappear then investigation is required. That's when you
>>>> find
>>>> that 'hostname' has suddenly become 'hostname.example.com' and
>>>> mythtv-setup
>>>> is asking you to remember all those settings you tuned over so many
>>>> years
>>>> (and forgotten!).
>>>
>>>
>>> No, the proper solution, then, is to change the
>>> proper-host-name-but-improper-settings profile host name (using
>>>
>>> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Database_Backup_and_Restore#Change_the_hostname_of_a_MythTV_frontend_or_backend
>>> ) to some "unused" value (like "garbage" or "oops" or whatever), then
>>> change
>>> the wrong-host-name-but-proper-settings profile host name to the proper
>>> host
>>> name using the same approach.
>>>
>>>
>>>> Of course, when you fix that, the 'new' settings stay in the database
>>>> until the next time you do an upgrade and something else moves... now
>>>> you
>>>> have /two/ sets of settings with little clue which is the correct one.
>>>>
>>>> I'm not suggesting that users deliberately fiddle with the database.
>>>> What
>>>> I'm suggesting is that with all the cruft that builds up for the above
>>>> reasons and others, fault finding becomes that much more difficult. A
>>>> mechanism for clearing out the dead wood would be useful.
>>>>
>>> Eventually it will be there-, but as part of a change to the whole
>>> profile
>>> mechanism that will also stop using host names as the *default* value for
>>> the profile identifier.  The host name of a MythTV system is completely
>>> irrelevant.  However, we need /some/ name for the profile, and years ago
>>> someone decided to use host name as a default.
>>>
>>> Note, too, that the host name is only the *default* name used for the
>>> profile.  Users should probably--because of the problems they have
>>> keeping
>>> host names consistent/constant over time--specify the profile name they
>>> want
>>> when first configuring the backend settings (by specifying a name for
>>> "Custom identifier") or as a LocalHostName override in their config.xml.
>>> If
>>> you do, you can change your host name all you like, and as long as you
>>> have
>>> users running MythTV applications properly configured (with a valid
>>> config.xml, as created when you configured backend settings and specified
>>> a
>>> "Custom identifier"), all will work.
>>
>> So is there a way to go into an existing combined FE/BE setup and
>>
>> change the default, hostname dependent, profile and create a custom
>> identifier?
>
>
> The profile name is defined by the config.xml, and the location of the
> config.xml is defined by the $HOME and $MYTHCONFDIR environmental variables.
> If you want to run multiple profiles on a single machine, or split the
> frontend from the backend, create a new config.xml with the new profile
> name, and manipulate your environment to get MythTV to read that new file.
>
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My attempt to find "config.xml" shows no file or directory exists,
admittedly I am a newb, but I could create a new file, although I
wouldn't know where to put it. My question relates directly to Mr.
Dean's advice as follows:

Users should probably--because of the problems they have keeping host
names consistent/constant over time--specify the profile name they
want when first configuring the backend settings (by specifying a name
for "Custom identifier") or as a LocalHostName override in their
config.xml.  If you do, you can change your host name all you like,
and as long as you have users running MythTV applications properly
configured (with a valid config.xml, as created when you configured
backend settings and specified a "Custom identifier"), all will work.

If I'm reading Mike right this should be done when first setting up
the BE. Would inserting a config.xml file in the appropriate place now
avoid hostname muckup problems in the future? If so, where should I
put it, and what should it look like?   Thanks   Daryl