Static configuration

The Comentario server’s static (start-up) configuration can be defined in three ways, in order of precedence:

• YAML configuration file
• Command-line options
• Environment variables

All three methods are functionally equivalent, but precedence applies: values in the configuration file override command-line options, which in turn override environment variables. Availability of each method depends on the specific setting.

When in doubt, use a YAML configuration file for your Comentario instance. It is the most complete and convenient option, offering a declarative format that works well with version control systems. In this case, the only required setting is specifying the file with the -c <file_name.yaml> command-line option (or the equivalent $CONFIG_FILE environment variable).

The easiest way to get started with a YAML-based config is allowing Comentario to write out its current settings using the following command:

comentario --config-write-to=/path/to/file.yaml

Then you can modify all settings to your taste.

Command-line help

You can also get a complete list of supported command-line options and variables by running:

./comentario -h

Synopsis

comentario [OPTIONS]

Options

Below is a list of available configuration settings (options).

Listener

Comentario serves a single listener, whose kind is chosen with the scheme option:

• http (the default) — plain HTTP on host:port.
• https — HTTPS on host:port, using tls.certificate and tls.certificateKey.
• unix — HTTP over the Unix domain socket at socketPath.

Plain HTTP is the right choice whenever Comentario runs behind a reverse proxy, an ingress controller, or a load balancer: that component terminates TLS, and Comentario only has to be reachable from it.

Use https only if there’s no TLS-terminating proxy in front of Comentario, since certificate renewal then becomes your responsibility. The certificate is read once, at startup, so the server needs a restart to pick up a renewed one.

The unix scheme is handy when the reverse proxy runs on the same host: no TCP port is occupied, and access is governed by the socket’s file permissions (socketPerms, 0660 by default — the proxy has to run as a user that these permissions grant access to). For example, to serve over a socket that the proxy’s group can access:

scheme: unix
socketPath: /run/comentario/comentario.sock
socketPerms: "0660"

or, on the command line:

comentario --scheme=unix --socket-path=/run/comentario/comentario.sock --socket-perms=0660

A socket left behind by a server that terminated uncleanly is removed on the next startup. If another process is still listening on it, Comentario refuses to start instead.

Legal pages

Comentario provides users with links to the following legal policy pages in a number of places:

• Terms of Service, which defaults to <baseDocsUrl>/en/legal/tos/
• Privacy Policy, which defaults to <baseDocsUrl>/en/legal/privacy/

Apart from being required by law in many countries, such a page is often mandatory when configuring federated authentication via an external service. By default, the above URLs on the documentation website are used.

If you apply your own policies, you should reconfigure Comentario to using your own URLs. Such pages have to be hosted elsewhere as Comentario provides no means for storing them at the moment.

Dynamic configuration defaults

Comentario YAML config also allows to redefine default values for dynamic configuration items.

In order to do that define corresponding overrides under the key dynamicConfigDefaults, for example:

dynamicConfigDefaults:
  auth:
    signup:
      confirm:
        commenter: false
        user: true

  domain.defaults:
    comments:
      text:
        maxLength: 417
      enableVoting: true
      editing:
        author: true
        moderator: false

You can find the key name on the item page, under the heading. Allowed value datatypes are string, number, and boolean.

See also

• Helm chart