Help needed editing a .conf file using vi or nano

firkin

I want to enable ipv6 Privacy Addresses [aka Privacy Extensions] on Snow Leopard.

I've read that the way to do it is:

sysctl -w net.inet6.ip6.use_tempaddr=1

I tried entering that in Terminal but it spat back "Operation not permitted"

Looking further [here, here and here] it seems that I have to create a file /etc/sysctl.conf, and then add net.inet6.ip6.use_tempaddr=1 to that file.

The thing is I have no idea how to do that with vi or nano. [I have no idea how to use vi or nano]

For example if I follow these instructions on unixfu.ch

It says entering

sudo vi /etc/sysctl.conf

will create the /etc/sysctl.conf. But I don't understand how to do the second part, putting

net.inet6.ip6.use_tempaddr=1

into the sysctl.conf file.

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

jester77

You would probably find nano easier to use as vi can be a bit complicated for the novice user.

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

Then you can easily just paste in the code you want, right click paste or ctrl+v.

Hit Ctrl+o to save
and Ctrl+x to exit

firkin

jester77, thanks for the reply.

I'm a tiny bit stuck !!
I followed your instructions. I tried Crtl+v to paste but that didn't work so I tried Cmd+v and that pasted.
crtl+o seems to have worked too. The window kind of changed and it says File Name to Write /etc/sysctl.conf

But, when I try crtl+x to save nothing happens. Should I try cmd+x ?

jester77

firkin wrote: »

jester77, thanks for the reply.

I'm a tiny bit stuck !!
I followed your instructions. I tried Crtl+v to paste but that didn't work so I tried Cmd+v and that pasted.
crtl+o seems to have worked too. The window kind of changed and it says File Name to Write /etc/sysctl.conf

But, when I try crtl+x to save nothing happens. Should I try cmd+x ?

When you get the prompt File Name to Write /etc/sysctl.conf, just hit enter and you will see a prompt showing "Wrote x line", x being the number of lines in the file. The file is now saved to your system. Ctrl+x is just for exiting out of Nano.

You can then type

cat /etc/sysctl.conf

to show the contents of the file and confirm that it was written to.

firkin

Perfect. Job done. Thank you.

I was a little unsure of my self there. Really sorry for PM-ing you over this.

Thanks again.