dconf - Man Page

• Print a specific key value: dconf read /path/to/key
• Print a specific path sub-directories and sub-keys: dconf list /path/to/directory/
• Write a specific key value: dconf write /path/to/key "value"
• Reset a specific key value: dconf reset /path/to/key
• Watch a specific key/directory for changes: dconf watch /path/to/key|/path/to/directory/
• Dump a specific directory in INI file format: dconf dump /path/to/directory/

tldr.sh

dconf read [-d] KEY

dconf list DIR

dconf write KEY VALUE

dconf reset [-f] PATH

dconf compile OUTPUT KEYFILEDIR

dconf update [DBDIR]

dconf watch PATH

dconf dump DIR

dconf load [-f] DIR

dconf help [COMMAND]

The dconf program can perform various operations on a dconf database, such as reading or writing individual values or entire directories​. This tool operates on dconf directly, without using gsettings schema information​. Therefore, it cannot perform type and consistency checks on values​. The gsettings(1) utility is an alternative if such checks are needed​.

The DIR arguments must be directory paths (starting and ending with '/'), the KEY arguments must be key paths (starting, but not ending with '/') and the PATH arguments can be either directory or key paths​.

The OUTPUT argument must be the location to write a (binary) dconf database to and the KEYFILEDIR argument must be a ​.d directory containing keyfiles​.

VALUE arguments must be in GVariant format, so e​.g​. a string must include explicit quotes: "'foo'"​. This format is also used when printing out values​.

The optional DBDIR argument is a directory containing the system dconf databases to be updated​. The default directory is typically /etc/dconf/db/ and users need sufficient privileges to update it​.

Note that dconf needs a D-Bus session bus connection to write changes to the dconf database​.

read

Read the value of a key​. Use -d to print the default value rather than the user-set value​.

list

List the sub-keys and sub-directories of a directory​.

write

Write a new value to a key​.

reset

Reset a key or an entire directory​. For directories, -f must be specified​.

compile

Compile a binary database from keyfiles​.

The result is always in little-endian byte order, so it can be safely installed in 'share'​. If it is used on a big endian machine, dconf will automatically byteswap the contents on read​.

update

Update the system dconf databases​.

watch

Watch a key or directory for changes​.

dump

Dump an entire subpath to stdout​. The output is in a keyfile-like format, with values in GVariant syntax​.

load

Populate a subpath from stdin​. The expected format is the same as produced by dump​. Attempting to change non-writable keys cancels the load command​. To ignore changes to non-writable keys instead, use -f​.

help

Display help and exit​. If COMMAND is given, display help for this command​.

DCONF_PROFILE

This environment variable determines which dconf profile to use​. See dconf(7)​.

dconf(7), gsettings(1), dconf-editor(1)

00-upstream-settings(5), dconf(7), dconf-editor(1), ibus(5).