Prompting for input in post-install script in dpkg

Question

I am writing a debian package and need to prompt the user for some textual details(default password, etc), as well as some one-of-many choices("Pick one of the following: foo, bar"). Will shell scripts run in dpkg use read or select correctly, or do I need another solution? If so, please point me to a quick guide about it(not necessarily noob-friendly).

Answer 1

You should not use read, select or dialog yourself but use debconf instead which supports readline, dialog, gtk and even web frontends. This is much more flexible than your own system. If you are using dh for building your system it will automatically use dh_installdebconf and you'll just have to place your template in debian/package.config and don't have to adjust/modify your debian/rules file or postinst script.

For a short introduction into debconf have a look at The Debconf Programmer's Tutorial.