3.2. eXo Platform configuration

In eXo Platform, almost all configurations are performed in a folder that is controlled by a system property named exo.conf.dir. This property is set by setenv.* scripts (Tomcat) or standalone-exo-*.xml files (JBoss).

The default value of exo.conf.dir is:

That folder contains the following main files that you need to take care: exo.properties (if you need to override the eXo Platform configurations); configuration.xml and portal/${PORTAL_NAME}/configuration.xml (if having the ${PORTAL_NAME} portal container).

Note

The xml configuration is mainly done during the development phase, whereas the configuration in exo.properties targets the deployment phase. So configurations that you want to customize should be done in the exo.properties file.

To understand more clearly the role of those files, let's begin with the portal container concept.

The eXo Platform Kernel collects runtime components in the portal containers. A portal container holds all components to run a portal instance. It serves pages under the servlet context for its name.

The default portal container in eXo Platform is called "portal". This explains why the default URL of the samples is http://localhost:8080/portal. The default portal container can be configured directly inside exo.conf.dir.

eXo Platform is capable of running several portal instances simultaneously on the same server. Each instance can be configured and customized independently via files located at: portal/${PORTAL_NAME} (under exo.conf.dir), where ${PORTAL_NAME} is the name of the portal container.

Note

The name of the configuration file can be altered. Please refer to the PortalContainer section in the Kernel reference for more details on portal containers and other options to modify the location of the properties.

Services that run inside a portal container are declared via the xml configuration files like configuration.xml. Such files exist in jars, wars and below exo.conf.dir.

The .xml configuration files also serve as the main way to customize the portal via the multiple plugins offered by the eXo Platform components.

Additionally, the .xml files may contain variables that are populated via properties defined in exo.properties. Hence, the exo.properties file serves as exposing some selected variables that are necessary to configure eXo Platform in a server environment.

exo.properties

This file can be added to easily override or extend configurations of eXo Platform. The important variables that can be overridden are exposed in a sample properties file named exo-sample.properties, but in comments. See Configuration overview for more details.

configuration.xml

This file contains the built-in configuration for the "portal" portal container.

Note

To learn more about how to configure a new portal container, please refer to eXo Kernel.

portal/${PORTAL_NAME}/configuration.xml

The extra configuration for the ${PORTAL_NAME} portal container if any. This is where further customizations (for ${PORTAL_NAME} portal container) can be placed. Generally, custom configurations are provided by extension wars. However, this file is the last loaded by Kernel. It has a higher priority over any other configuration files, including extensions. So, you can override any internal component configuration.

This may turn handy services or configurations that are not exposed in exo.properties.

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