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How to manage and deploy config files

In many other CMSes, most notably WordPress and Drupal 7, most of your website's configuration is saved in the database. In Backdrop CMS all configuration is stored in JSON files instead. By default, these .json config files are stored under /files/config_[some-randomly-generated-hash], but this location may be configured to be a different location (recommended to live outside the webroot, for increased security - for more on that, refer to the "Site configuration files location." section in your settings.php file).

The benefits of configuration files include:

  • Quickly export and import configuration for only a specific part of your website.
  • Easily replicate configuration across different environments (local/staging/live) independently of content.
  • Safely use version control to store, change, track, and deploy configuration changes.

Here you will find a few different approaches to managing configuration in Backdrop. Each has its pros and cons, so please choose the one that best fits your needs.