Configuration

Introduction

All of the configuration files for the PyroCMS are stored in the config directory. Each option is documented, so feel free to look through the files and get familiar with the options available to you.

Some configuration is specific to PyroCMS and should be noted:

• debugbar.php
• httpcache.php
• image.php
• streams.php

Environment Configuration

It is often helpful to have different configuration values based on the environment where the application is running. For example, you may wish to use a different cache driver locally than you do on your production server.

To make this a cinch, PyroCMS utilizes the DotEnv PHP library by Vance Lucas. After a fresh installation, the root directory of your application will contain a .env file.

Your .env file should not be committed to your application's source control, since each developer / server using your application could require a different environment configuration. Furthermore, this would be a security risk in the event an intruder gains access to your source control repository, since any sensitive credentials would get exposed.

If you are developing with a team, you may wish to including a .env.example file with your application. By putting placeholder values in the example configuration file, other developers on your team can clearly see which environment variables are needed to run your application. You may also create a .env.testing file. This file will override the .env file when running PHPUnit tests or executing Artisan commands with the --env=testing option.

Any variable in your .env file can be overridden by external environment variables such as server-level or system-level environment variables.

Multisite Environment Configuration

Some PyroCMS installations may handle more than one application. In such cases the .env for each application can be found in resources/{APPLICATION_REFERENCE}/.env and it's values will override matching definitions in the main .env file.

Environment Variable Types

All variables in your .env files are parsed as strings, so some reserved values have been created to allow you to return a wider range of types from the env() function:

If you need to define an environment variable with a value that contains spaces, you may do so by enclosing the value in double quotes.

APP_NAME="My Application"

Retrieving Environment Configuration

All of the variables listed in this file will be loaded into the $_ENV PHP super-global when your application receives a request. However, you may use the env helper to retrieve values from these variables in your configuration files. In fact, if you review the configuration files, you will notice several of the options already using this helper:

'debug' => env('APP_DEBUG', false),

The second value passed to the env function is the "default value". This value will be used if no environment variable exists for the given key.

Determining The Current Environment

The current application environment is determined via the APP_ENV variable from your .env file. You may access this value via the environment method on the App facade:

$environment = App::environment();

You may also pass arguments to the environment method to check if the environment matches a given value. The method will return true if the environment matches any of the given values:

if (App::environment('local')) {
    // The environment is local
}

if (App::environment(['local', 'staging'])) {
    // The environment is either local OR staging...
}

The current application environment detection can be overridden by a server-level APP_ENV environment variable. This can be useful when you need to share the same application for different environment configurations, so you can set up a given host to match a given environment in your server's configurations.{.tip}

Hiding Environment Variables From Debug Pages

When an exception is uncaught and the APP_DEBUG environment variable is true, the debug page will show all environment variables and their contents. In some cases you may want to obscure certain variables. You may do this by updating the debug_blacklist option in your config/app.php configuration file.

Some variables are available in both the environment variables and the server / request data. Therefore, you may need to blacklist them for both $_ENV and $_SERVER:

return [

    // ...

    'debug_blacklist' => [
        '_ENV' => [
            'APP_KEY',
            'DB_PASSWORD',
        ],

        '_SERVER' => [
            'APP_KEY',
            'DB_PASSWORD',
        ],

        '_POST' => [
            'password',
        ],
    ],
];

Accessing Configuration Values

You may easily access your configuration values using the global config helper function from anywhere in your application. The configuration values may be accessed using "dot" syntax, which includes the name of the file and option you wish to access. A default value may also be specified and will be returned if the configuration option does not exist:

$value = config('app.timezone');

You may also prefix your option keys with an optional hint to access configuration values in other areas like an addon or the Streams Platform.

$value = config('streams::locales.enabled');

To set configuration values at runtime, pass an array to the config helper:

config(['app.timezone' => 'America/Chicago']);

Streams Platform Configuration

The Streams Platform contains its own configuration.

Streams Platform Configuration{.link}

Addon Configuration

Addons contain their own configuration. You may easily access configuration values for addons just the same as you would any other configuration. Configuration values for addons have a vendor.type.slug:: prefix based on their dot namespace:

$value = config('anomaly.module.users::config.login');

To set configuration values at runtime, pass an array to the config helper:

config(['anomaly.module.users::config.login' => 'username']);

Publishing addon configuration

In order to configure addons without modifying core files you will need to publish the addon with the following command:

php artisan addon:publish vendor.type.slug

You can then find the addon configuration files in resources/{APPLICATION_REFERENCE}/{vendor}/{slug}-{type}/config.

Configuration Caching

To give your application a speed boost, you should cache all of your configuration files into a single file using the config:cache Artisan command. This will combine all of the configuration options for your application into a single file which will be loaded quickly by the application.

You should typically run the php artisan config:cache command as part of your production deployment routine. The command should not be run during local development as configuration options will frequently need to be changed during the course of your application's development.

If you execute the config:cache command during your deployment process, you should be sure that you are only calling the env function from within your configuration files. Once the configuration has been cached, the .env file will not be loaded and all calls to the env function will return null.{.notice}

Maintenance Mode

When your application is in maintenance mode, a custom view will be displayed for all requests into your application. This makes it easy to "disable" your application while it is updating or when you are performing maintenance. A maintenance mode check is included in the default middleware stack for your application. If the application is in maintenance mode, a MaintenanceModeException will be thrown with a status code of 503.

To enable maintenance mode, execute the down Artisan command:

php artisan down

You may also provide message and retry options to the down command. The message value may be used to display or log a custom message, while the retry value will be set as the Retry-After HTTP header's value:

php artisan down --message="Upgrading Database" --retry=60

Even while in maintenance mode, specific IP addresses or networks may be allowed to access the application using the command's allow option:

php artisan down --allow=127.0.0.1 --allow=192.168.0.0/16

To disable maintenance mode, use the up command:

php artisan up

You may customize the default maintenance mode template by defining your own template at resources/views/errors/503.twig.{.tip}

Maintenance Mode & Queues

While your application is in maintenance mode, no queued jobs will be handled. The jobs will continue to be handled as normal once the application is out of maintenance mode.