====== UCI ======

The //__U__nified __C__onfig __S__ystem// is the central pivot when it comes the routers configuration settings.

All maintained configuration files are stored in ///etc/config/// and can either be edited with a text-editor or by using the //uci// command-line interface. \\ 
After altering the routers configuration files, affected system services needs to be restarted.

===== Configuration Files =====

A List of maintained configuration files:
[[documentation:configuration:config_files|Configuration Files]]

===== File Syntax / Basic principle =====

Usually the configuration files or //'packages'// consists of various blocks, so called //'sections'//. 
Each section starts with the //'config'//-statement and can imply multiple settings.

Below is an simple example of such a section block: 

<code>
config 'example' 'test'
        option   'test_option1' 'some value'
        option   'test_option2' '1'
        list     'collection'   'first item'
        list     'collection'   'second item'
</code>

The first line defines a section and follows the syntax: //config '<type>' '<name>'//. So in this example the section-type would be 'example' and its name would be 'test'.

Followed by two //'option'//-statements which defines simple values. Each option needs a name and a value.

Finally the example section ends with two //'list'//-statements. Lists are special options which can combine multiple list-entries to one singe object. 
Like //options//, each list needs a name. If several list-statements with the same name are present in one section, each entry will be added to the list.
In our example, a single list named 'collection' will be generated, containing the entries 'first item' and 'second item'.


====== Command line utility ======

<code>
Usage

# uci

Usage: uci [<options>] <command> [<arguments>]

Commands:
	batch
	export     [<config>]
	import     [<config>]
	changes    [<config>]
	commit     [<config>]
	add        <config> <section-type>
	add_list   <config>.<section>.<option>=<string>
	show       [<config>[.<section>[.<option>]]]
	get        <config>.<section>[.<option>]
	set        <config>.<section>[.<option>]=<value>
	delete     <config>[.<section[.<option>]]
	rename     <config>.<section>[.<option>]=<name>
	revert     <config>[.<section>[.<option>]]

Options:
	-c <path>  set the search path for config files (default: /etc/config)
	-d <str>   set the delimiter for list values in uci show
	-f <file>  use <file> as input instead of stdin
	-m         when importing, merge data into an existing package
	-n         name unnamed sections on export (default)
	-N         don't name unnamed sections
	-p <path>  add a search path for config change files
	-P <path>  add a search path for config change files and use as default
	-q         quiet mode (don't print error messages)
	-s         force strict mode (stop on parser errors, default)
	-S         disable strict mode
	-X         do not use extended syntax on 'show'
</code>

If you want to look up your changes use the following command:
<code>
uci changes
</code>

In case you alter the UCI configuration using the command-line interface, the config needs to be written to the configuration files by commiting them using:
<code>
uci commit
</code>
before any service restarts will take effect of the configuration