# External formats

The native mechanism for the system is the service bundle. However, one can convert and import service configuration from various external formats.

- generating bundles from systemd units

- generating bundles from `/etc/fstab`

- importing settings from `/etc/rc.conf`

- importing settings from `/etc/ttys`

- generating bundles for jails

- stuff converted/generated for each user

A suite of `redo` scripts in `/etc/system-control/convert/` are supplied for tying these altogether. Simply executing `redo all` in that directory will attempt to import from various external configuration formats into service bundles. Because this mechanism detects changes to source files, it means that it only performs conversion actions when source configuration files have changed.

The `redo` procedure is best invoked as a post-processing step after running some system utility that has changed an imported system configuration file. Consider it a step akin to running `pwd_mkdb` after editing the `master.passwd` file; running `newaliases` after editing the Sendmail `aliases` file; or `cap_mkdb` after editing termcap entries. It is wasteful to run it at bootstrap.