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Configuration

See also: Installation · Management and maintenance

Dédalo v7 keeps all of its configuration in one file, ../private/.env — one level above the install, outside the web root:

# ../private/.env
ENTITY=my_museum
DB_NAME=dedalo
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=dedalo
DB_PASSWORD=…

Change a value, restart the server, done. There is nothing to edit inside the served tree — if you are looking for the four config files of v6, see what changed in v7.

A fresh install needs none of this by hand: the installer writes the file for you — the terminal installer (sh install.sh, or bun run dedalo:install in a checkout), whatever route or mode you run it in, writes the same keys (what .env gets).

Configuration pages

Page What it covers
How configuration works Where values live, how they resolve, secrets, required keys, troubleshooting. Start here.
Settings reference Every setting, what it means, and its default.
What changed in v7 The v6 → v7 map: renamed, reshaped and removed settings.
Migrating a v6 install to v7 The whole v6 → v7 migration, config included — dedalo:migrate-config is Phase C of it.
Database connection PostgreSQL (the work database) and MariaDB (diffusion).
Areas Allowing and denying areas.
Media protection Web-server-enforced access control for media files.
Search The search trust boundary and its limits.
Thesaurus dependencies Which ontology TLDs need which hierarchies.

The essentials

The file. ../private/.env, mode 0600, outside the web root. One KEY=value per line. Lists and maps are JSON; booleans are true/false.

Precedence. The process environment beats the file; the file beats the engine's built-in default.

It is append-only. Three edits are legitimate, and nothing else:

  • Add a line for a key the file does not have yet.
  • Change a value on its existing line, in place — for example adding a domain ontology's code to ACTIVE_ONTOLOGY_TLDS, replacing the [] of an air-gapped install's ONTOLOGY_SERVERS/CODE_SERVERS, or new database credentials. Never add a second line for a key that is already there: the file is read top to bottom and the last line silently wins.
  • Rename a retired key when the boot refuses and names it.

Never delete a line: a key you remove silently falls back to a default. The installer writes .env once, at install time, and refuses to install over a sealed installation, so after the install every change is a hand edit.

Restart to apply. Configuration is read once, at boot.

install/sample.env in the code tree documents every key with its default — copy the lines you need out of it. The installer leaves a copy at ../private/sample.env, but a code update does not refresh that copy, so it lacks every key added since the install.

Required settings

A configured install must have ENTITY, DB_NAME, DB_HOST, DB_USER and the language block (DEDALO_APPLICATION_LANGS, DEDALO_APPLICATION_LANGS_DEFAULT, DEDALO_DATA_LANG_DEFAULT, PROJECTS_DEFAULT_LANGS), or the server refuses to boot — loudly, naming the missing key. See §5 Required settings.

Runtime state is not configuration

Maintenance mode, install status and area overrides live in ../private/ts_state.json, written by the application itself. Do not hand-edit it.