Config File

[Bradleykingz]

I'd prefer not to use docker, but specifying options from the command line is pretty awkward, to say the least

[Unit]
Description=Remark42 Commenting Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/remark42 server --secret=12345 --url=http://127.0.0.1:8080
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin/remark42
Restart=on-failure
User=nobody
Group=nogroup

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Could we be able to load these settings from a .yml file instead?

[umputun]

Please use the discussion for this type of questions and suggestions. The "issues" is for ... issues, i.e., bug reports.

[umputun]

but specifying options from the command line is pretty awkward.

Can you elaborate? What exactly is "pretty awkward" here? Documentation covers all the options, and it looks straightforward to me. There are a lot of them, but you need to set only those you care about.

Adding --config=blah.yml is technically possible, but the reason we don't have it is that Docker is the primary and officially supported delivery method. With Docker Compose, which is a YAML configuration by itself, adding another layer of configs doesn't make much sense.

Btw, from what I recall, the flags library we use supports ini files out of the box. Maybe we can already do some external configuration this way, but I have never tried. @paskal - any idea if we support it automagically?

[Bradleykingz]

For example, if i want to change the settings (e.g. I want to add Google login, or change the port, etc), I have to edit remark42.service... . I've never had to edit a service file just to change the settings, hence the "awkwardness". More "natural" to edit a config file - e.g. "/var/lib/postgres.conf" or "redis.conf" for example

[paskal]

Good news is you can definitely use environment variables instead of those command line arguments for Remark42.

The systemd service file can be modified to use an environment file (.env) instead. Here's how to set it up:

1. First, create an environment file (let's say at /etc/remark42.env):

SECRET=12345
REMARK_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080

2. Then update your systemd service file to use this env file:

[Unit]
Description=Remark42 Commenting Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
EnvironmentFile=/etc/remark42.env
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/remark42 server
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/remark42
Restart=on-failure
User=nobody
Group=nogroup

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

The beauty of this approach is that when you need to change settings, you just:

1. Edit the environment file with your new values
2. Restart the service with sudo systemctl restart remark42.service

No need to edit the service file itself or mess with long command lines. The service will automatically pick up the new configuration from the env file.

You can add as many environment variables as needed in that file for other Remark42 settings too, here is the parameters list.

UPD: I've published the systemd instruction as in the installation documentation here.

[Bradleykingz]

Awesome. Thank you.