Dear all,
I have added a newly structured OpenACS configuration file to the NaviServer GitHub repository [1].
The main goals of this restructuring are to:
- Provide a clear and well-defined structure that makes it obvious where different types of configuration belong.
Improve Docker-friendliness by
increasing the number of settings that can be controlled via environment variables, and
- automatically activating components when the relevant configuration is present.
- Serve as a starting point for splitting the configuration into a directory-based layout, making it easy to add or remove components and modules without editing a single monolithic file.
- Ease version migrations by isolating defaults, derived values, and component/site-specific configuration.
To give an overview, the file is organized into the following logical sections:
######################################################################
#
# Configuration structure overview
#
# Section 0 – Bootstrap & defaults (pure Tcl)
# - Logging and environment checks
# - defaultConfig dictionary and overrides (ns_configure_variables, CLI)
# - Derivation of basic variables: server, serverroot, homedir, logdir,
# hostname/ipaddress/httpport/httpsport, pageroot, etc.
#
# Section 1 – Global NaviServer parameters (ns/parameters)
# - Core ns/parameters
# - Optional reverse proxy mode (ns/parameters/reverseproxymode)
#
# Section 2 – Global network drivers & modules
# - HTTP driver (nssock) as module "http"
# - HTTPS driver (nsssl) as module "https"
# - Global driver options and virtual-host mappings
#
# Section 3 – Global runtime configuration
# - Thread library parameters (ns/threads)
# - Extra MIME types (ns/mimetypes)
# - Global fastpath configuration (ns/fastpath)
#
# Section 4 – Global database drivers and pools
# - ns/db/drivers
# - ns/db/driver-specific settings (e.g. postgres, nsoracle)
# - ns/db/pools and pool definitions
#
# Section 5 – Global utility modules
# - Global modules not bound to a specific server
# (e.g. nsstats, future monitoring or helper modules)
#
# Section 6 – Server configurations
# - Pools, redirects, ADP, Tcl, fastpath, HTTP client,
# per-server modules
#
# Section 7 – Final diagnostics / sample extras
# - Final ns_log diagnostics
#
######################################################################
The file is intended both as a usable default and as a reference configuration that documents recommended structure and best practices going forward. Feedback, suggestions, and follow-up patches are as always welcome.
All the best
-g
[1] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/naviserver-project/naviserver/refs/heads/main/openacs-config.tcl
