Overview

The basic idea of course is that the app needs to be configurable, so the question is how to go about that.

The short answer is, “We always use config files but can also store config in the database where applicable.”

The advantage to config files is that they are easier to get started with, but also we can restrict access at the file system level, which means we can (more safely) store sensitive information in them.

The advantage to storing config in DB, is that one can change config on-the-fly using e.g. the web app. (Whereas changing a config file requires the app to be restarted, so it will read the new file contents.)

Generally speaking, certain config which is needed during app startup (e.g. DB access credentials and logging config), or which is deemed “sensitive” (passwords, API keys etc.), is kept in config files, and the remainder is kept in the DB (if there is one).

This behavior is itself configurable, but most typically, the app will not care where a given setting is defined (file vs. DB) but if one is defined in both places the DB value would win. But the app can request a config value from “file only” and ignore the DB, where that is desirable (e.g. when reading settings required for startup).

We are still in the Base Layer docs at this point, so we’ll focus on the config files first, and come back to the DB near the end.