Once system profile versions are defined, you can switch back and forth between them. Linuxconf preserves the configuration files for all sub-systems that are not shared between the two version. After that it restores the configuration files for the newly selected version.
In the control panel, you find the menu entry switch system version. This menu presents you with the list of all versions available (except the currently active one). You just pick one and there you are.
You may want to visit the Activate changes menu of the control panel or leave Linuxconf so the new configuration is brought into action.
At boot time, an option lets you select the proper profile version. As with the option in the control panel, this involves archiving the current version and restoring the new one. Linuxconf may then boot using the new configuration files. This is handled by the optional boot time menu (Some distribution are not installing it unfortunatly).
It is also possible to switch profile from the LILO prompt. You simply pass the PROFILE=profile-name argument to the selected kernel. For example:
LILO boot: linux PROFILE=home
Limited functionality is available from the command line to play with the archiving. Both command line options only work on the current version. They are handy to do some experiments and undo them. Remember that RCS is used to save the files. This means that you can extract a very old copy of a configuration file if needed. Linuxconf does not yet support this however. You have to dig in the /etc/linuxconf/archive.
The command
linuxconf --archive [ sub-system ... ]
lets you save a copy of the configuration files of a few subsystems. If you omit a subsystem name, then all subsystems are archived.
The command
linuxconf --diff [ sub-system ... ]
lets you compare the current state of a the configuration files with the last archived version. If you omit a subsystem name, then all subsystems are compared.
The command
linuxconf --extract [ sub-system ... ]
lets you restore the configuration files of a few sys-systems. If you omit a subsystem name, then all subsystems are restored.
The command
linuxconf --history [ sub-system ... ]
will present the archiving history of every file in the subsystems (or all subsystems). It does this by executing the rlog command on each file in the archive.