The Config page

Server > Config lists every setting of your Asterobot, the ones you changed and the ones still at their default. What you change there is saved in Asterobot's config.toml file at once. What each setting does is in Settings reference.

Open it

1. In the sidebar, click Server.
2. Click the Config tab.

The page starts with "Every configuration value stored on the Asterobot server. Changes apply live." Under it sit the filter, the counters and two buttons, then one card per group of settings.

How settings are grouped

Every setting has a key made of two parts, such as server.listenAddress. The part before the dot names the group, and each group gets a card, in alphabetical order of their names. The card's header shows the group's name, how many of its settings are listed, and how many of them are modified.

Inside a card, each row shows the part after the dot, such as listenAddress, with everything about that setting:

Find a setting

• Filter settings... keeps the settings whose key or description contains what you type, ignoring upper and lower case. The description counts, so typing https finds server.tls, whose description talks about HTTPS.
• Modified only hides every setting you haven't changed.

The badge next to them counts what you see, such as "3 of 19 · 2 modified": 3 settings shown out of 19, and 2 modified in total. When nothing matches, the page says "No setting matches this filter."

Change a setting

The control depends on the kind of value:

A saved change goes straight into config.toml, and every Asteroboard connected to this Asterobot shows it. Unless the setting has the Restart required badge, Asterobot uses the new value right away.

When a change can't be saved, Asteroboard shows Couldn't save with the setting's key, and the control goes back to the saved value. That happens, for example, when the value isn't of the kind the setting holds.

Numbers

A setting that holds a number only accepts a number. Anything else, an empty box included, shows That isn't a number and the box goes back to the saved value.

Settings edited as JSON

server.basicAuth holds a list of logins with their passwords, which a single text box can't show. Click Edit as JSON to open an editor under the row:

1. Change the value, for example {"alice": "a long password"} for a single login.
2. Click Apply. Cancel, or Hide JSON on the row, closes the editor without saving.

If the text isn't valid JSON, Asteroboard shows That isn't valid JSON and leaves the editor open so you can fix it.

Modified and default

A setting becomes Modified as soon as you save a value for it, even if that value is the same as the default. Only modified settings are written in config.toml.

That difference matters when you update Asterobot. A setting left at its default follows the new version: if the new version changes the default, the setting changes with it. A modified setting keeps your value, whatever the new default is. So only save a value when you really mean to keep it.

The reset button undoes that choice: the setting goes back to its default, loses the Modified badge and leaves config.toml.

Restart required

A few settings are only read when Asterobot starts, and carry the Restart required badge: server.listenAddress, server.basicAuth, server.tls, botmanager.mitmSignInPort, botmanager.mitmSessionPort, botmanager.mitmBindHost and botmanager.mitmAdvertiseHost.

When one of them changes while the page is open, an alert appears at the top: Restart to apply, "Some changed settings only take effect after asterobot restarts." To restart, stop Asterobot and start it again, as First launch shows. The alert also appears when the change came from somewhere else, such as another Asteroboard, and it stays until you reload Asteroboard, even after the restart.

Reset settings

You can reset at three levels:

• One setting: the reset button at the end of its row.
• One group: the reset button in the card's header, Reset this service's settings. It only appears when the group has modified settings.
• Everything: Reset all, at the top right. It's greyed out while nothing is modified.

Reset all asks first, with Reset every modified setting? and "This puts 2 modified setting(s) back to their defaults." Click Reset all in that alert to go ahead, or Cancel. Asteroboard confirms with Settings reset. It does the same as the config reset command (Command line). If a reset fails, Asteroboard shows Couldn't reset the setting.

Hidden values

Two settings hold secrets and are never shown by default:

• website.token, the sign-in Asterobot uses on asterobot.net. Its box shows dots, and the eye button next to it reveals the value.
• server.basicAuth, the logins and passwords that protect Asterobot. Its default shows as dots, but Edit as JSON shows the logins and passwords in clear text.

A setting Asterobot says nothing about is hidden the same way when its key contains token, password or secret.

Don't reveal these values, or open server.basicAuth in the editor, while someone can see your screen. Getting help explains why.

Settings not registered by any service

A row that says "Not registered by any service", instead of a default, is a setting that config.toml contains but no part of Asterobot uses. It's usually left over from an older version, or a key typed by hand with a mistake in it. It has no effect. Its reset button removes it from config.toml.

Reload all

Reload all reads every setting from Asterobot again. The page normally keeps itself up to date, so you'll rarely need it. If the reload fails, Asteroboard shows Couldn't reload settings, which usually means it isn't connected to Asterobot.

While the settings load, the page says "Loading settings...", and "No settings loaded yet." when Asteroboard has nothing to show.

Edit config.toml by hand

You can also change settings in config.toml with a text editor. Asterobot watches the file: save it, and Asterobot applies the change within a moment, exactly as if you had made it on the Config page, and Asteroboard updates. The terminal shows Config loaded from followed by the file's path.

The file is in TOML format, with one section per group, and only holds the settings you changed. For example:

[logger]
cliLevel = "DEBUG"

[server]
skipOpenFrontend = true

[server.basicAuth]
alice = "a long password"

Removing a line puts that setting back to its default. Files and folders shows where the file is on each system.

If the file can't be read after your edit, for example because of a missing quote, the terminal shows the warning Failed to reload config from file and Asterobot keeps the values it had. Fix the file and save it again. Asterobot doesn't overwrite a file it can't read, not even when it stops.

Where to go next

• Settings reference
• Files and folders