Configuration overview

The system configuration parameters are found in the following files:

• <configRoot>/classes/alfresco/repository.properties
• <configRoot>/classes/alfresco/subsystems/<category>/<type>/*.properties

It is not recommended that you edit these files directly but that you should extend or override them using the following methods:

• SkyVault Admin Console
• Editing the global properties (SkyVault-global.properties) file
• Using a JMX client, such as JConsole

SkyVault Admin Console

The SkyVault Admin Console is a tool that gives a quick and easy way to manage SkyVault configuration. For more information, see SkyVault Admin Console.

Global properties files

The global properties file is used by SkyVault to detect the extended properties. For example, when you install SkyVault, many of the installation settings are saved in the global properties file. You can continue to use the global properties to do all your property extensions; however, whenever you make a change, you must restart the SkyVault server.

JMX client

The JMX client allows you to edit the settings while the system is running. The settings you change are automatically persisted in the database and synchronized across a cluster. When you start up SkyVault, the system initially uses the SkyVault-global.properties file to set the properties within the JMX client, but then any changes you make in the JMX client persist in the database but are not reflected back into the SkyVault-global.properties file.

There are two types of property that you can edit:

Type 1: Properties specified directly in XML files

For example:

<bean id="wcm_deployment_receiver"
class="org.alfresco.repo.management.subsystems.ChildApplicationContextFactory"
        <parent="abstractPropertyBackedBean">
        <property name="autoStart">
                <value>true</value>
        </property>
</bean>

The value for the property autoStart is set to true directly in the wcm-bootstrap-context.xml file.

Type 2: Properties set by variables in XML files

For example:

<bean id="userInstallationURI" class="org.alfresco.util.OpenOfficeURI">
      <constructor-arg>
         <value>${ooo.user}</value>
      </constructor-arg>
   </bean>

The value for the property constructor-arg is replaced with a variable ${ooo.user}.

When SkyVault starts up, type 1 properties are read from the XML file; type 2 properties get their values read from all the various property files. Then, the database is checked to see if there are any property values set there, and if any property has been changed, this value is used instead.

Some of the type 2 properties can be viewed and changed by the JMX console, some cannot. For example. ooo.exe can be viewed and changed using the JMX client; index.recovery.mode cannot be viewed or changed using the JMX client.

In a new SkyVault installation, none of these properties are stored in the database. If you set a property using the JMX interface, SkyVault stores the value of the property in the database. If you never use JMX to set the value of a property, you can continue using the SkyVault-global.properties file to set the value of the property. Once you change the property setting using JMX, and it is therefore stored in the DB, you cannot use the properties files to change the value of that property.