Xfce Forum

roeland

Member

Registered: 2025-07-29

Posts: 4

dump/restore script (don't use it)

In the past I had the idea to save all xfce settings like this:

#!/bin/sh
xfconf-query -c displays -lv > $(pwd)/displays.txt
xfconf-query -c keyboard-layout -lv > $(pwd)/keyboard-layout.txt
xfconf-query -c keyboards -lv > $(pwd)/keyboards.txt
xfconf-query -c pointers -lv > $(pwd)/pointers.txt
xfconf-query -c ristretto -lv > $(pwd)/ristretto.txt
xfconf-query -c thunar -lv > $(pwd)/thunar.txt
xfconf-query -c thunar-volman -lv > $(pwd)/thunar-volman.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-appfinder -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-appfinder.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-desktop.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-notifyd -lv | grep -v known > $(pwd)/xfce4-notifyd.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-panel -lv | grep -v known > $(pwd)/xfce4-panel.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-power-manager.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-screensaver -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-screensaver.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-session -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-session.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-settings-editor -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-settings-editor.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-settings-manager -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-settings-manager.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-taskmanager -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-taskmanager.txt
xfconf-query -c xfce4-terminal -lv > $(pwd)/xfce4-terminal.txt
xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -lv > $(pwd)/xfwm4.txt
xfconf-query -c xsettings -lv > $(pwd)/xsettings.txt

The idea was to make it more readable then the files in ~/.config/xfce4 and make it easier to see changes in git.
If I needed to restore a setting, I could view the old value there.

But now I needed to restore all values and I didn't save ~/.config/xfce4....

I created a restore script for this. I just share it here if someone else needs it, but only use this if really needed and at your own risk.

#!/bin/bash

# remove custom shortcuts and panels
xfconf-query -c xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts -p /commands/custom -Rr
xfconf-query -c xfce4-panels -p /panels -Rr
xfconf-query -c xfce4-panels -p /plugins -Rr

channels="displays keyboard-layout keyboards pointers ristretto thunar thunar-volman \
xfce4-appfinder xfce4-desktop xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts xfce4-notifyd xfce4-panel \
xfce4-power-manager xfce4-screensaver xfce4-session xfce4-settings-editor \
xfce4-settings-manager xfce4-taskmanager xfce4-terminal xfwm4 xsettings"

detect_type() {
    local val="$1"
    if [[ "$val" =~ ^(true|false)$ ]]; then
        echo "bool"
    elif [[ "$val" =~ ^-?[0-9]+$ ]]; then
        echo "int"
    elif [[ "$val" =~ ^-?[0-9]*\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
        echo "double"
    else
        echo "string"
    fi
}

for channel in $channels; do
    config_file="$channel.txt"
    if [ -f "$config_file" ]; then
        echo "Applying settings from $config_file to channel $channel"
        while IFS= read -r line || [ -n "$line" ]; do
            # Skip empty lines and comments
            [ -z "$line" ] && continue
            echo "$line" | grep -qE '^\s*#' && continue

            prop=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $1}')
            value=$(echo "$line" | cut -d' ' -f2- | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//')

            # Check if it's an array (starts with [ and ends with ])
            if echo "$value" | grep -q '^\[.*\]$'; then
                # Strip square brackets
                array_content=$(echo "$value" | sed -e 's/^\[//' -e 's/\]$//')
                IFS=',' read -r -a elements <<< "$array_content"

                # Prepare type flags and values
                args=()
                for element in "${elements[@]}"; do
                    element=$(echo "$element" | xargs)  # trim
                    vtype=$(detect_type "$element")
                    args+=("-t" "$vtype" "-s" "$element")
                done

                xfconf-query -c "$channel" -p "$prop" -a -n "${args[@]}"
            else
                vtype=$(detect_type "$value")
                xfconf-query -c "$channel" -p "$prop" -t "$vtype" -s "$value" -n
            fi
        done < "$config_file"
    else
        echo "Config file '$config_file' does not exist."
    fi
done