Config

You can see the list of available subcommands with dgraph --help. You can view the full set of configuration options for a given subcommand with dgraph <subcommand> --help (for example, dgraph zero --help).

You can configure options in multiple ways, which are listed below from highest precedence to lowest precedence:

• Using command line flags (as described in the help output).
• Using environment variables.
• Using a configuration file.

If no configuration for an option is used, then the default value as described in the --help output applies.

You can use multiple configuration methods at the same time, so a core set of options could be set in a config file, and instance specific options could be set using environment vars or flags.

Command line flags

Dgraph has global flags that apply to all subcommands and flags specific to a subcommand.

Some flags have been deprecated and replaced in release v21.03, and flags for several commands (alpha, backup, bulk,debug, live, and zero) now have compound flags. Compound flags contain one or more options that let you define multiple settings in a semicolon-delimited list. The general syntax for compound flags is as follows: --<flagname> option-a=value-a; option-b=value-b.

The following example shows how to use compound flags when running the dgraph alpha command.

dgraph alpha --my=alpha.example.com:7080 --zero=zero.example.com:5080 \
  --badger "compression=zstd:1" \
  --block_rate "10" \
  --trace "jaeger=http://jaeger:14268" \
  --tls "ca-cert=/dgraph/tls/ca.crt;client-auth-type=REQUIREANDVERIFY;server-cert=/dgraph/tls/node.crt;server-key=/dgraph/tls/node.key;use-system-ca=true;internal-port=true;client-cert=/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.crt;client-key=/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.key"
  --security "whitelist=10.0.0.0/8,172.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16"

Environment variables

The environment variable names for Dgraph mirror the flag names shown in the Dgraph CLI --help output. These environment variable names are formed the concatenation of DGRAPH, the subcommand invoked (ALPHA, ZERO, LIVE, or BULK), and then the name of the flag (in uppercase). For example, instead running a command like dgraph alpha --block_rate 10, you could set the following environment variable: DGRAPH_ALPHA_BLOCK_RATE=10 dgraph alpha.

For an environment variable, the --<flagname> option-a=value;option-b=value can be represented as <FLAGNAME>="option-a=value;option-b=value".

Below is an example of environment variables for dgraph alpha:

DGRAPH_ALPHA_BADGER="compression=zstd:1"
DGRAPH_ALPHA_BLOCK_RATE="10"
DGRAPH_ALPHA_TRACE="jaeger=http://jaeger:14268"
DGRAPH_ALPHA_TLS="ca-cert=/dgraph/tls/ca.crt;client-auth-type=REQUIREANDVERIFY;server-cert=/dgraph/tls/node.crt;server-key=/dgraph/tls/node.key;use-system-ca=true;internal-port=true;client-cert=/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.crt;client-key=/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.key"
DGRAPH_ALPHA_SECURITY="whitelist=10.0.0.0/8,172.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16"

Configuration file

A configuration file can be specified using the --config flag, or an environment variable, such as dgraph alpha --config my_config.json or DGRAPH_ALPHA_CONFIG=my_config.json dgraph alpha.

Dgraph supports configuration file formats that it detects based on file extensions (.json, .yml or .yaml). In these files, the name of the compound flag is used as a key that points to a hash. The hash consists of key: value pairs that correspond to the compound flag’s list of option=value pairs.

JSON config file

In JSON, the --<flagname> option-a=value;option-b=value can be represented as:

{
  "<flagname>": {
    "option-a": "value",
    "opton-b": "value"
  }
}

The following example JSON config file (config.json) using kebab-case:

{
  "badger": { "compression": "zstd:1" },
  "trace": { "jaeger": "http://jaeger:14268" },
  "security": { "whitelist": "10.0.0.0/8,172.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16" },
  "tls": {
    "ca-cert": "/dgraph/tls/ca.crt",
    "client-auth-type": "REQUIREANDVERIFY",
    "server-cert": "/dgraph/tls/node.crt",
    "server-key": "/dgraph/tls/node.key",
    "use-system-ca": true,
    "internal-port": true,
    "client-cert": "/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.crt",
    "client-key": "/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.key"
  }
}

The following example JSON config file (config.json) using snake_case:

{
  "badger": { "compression": "zstd:1" },
  "trace": { "jaeger": "http://jaeger:14268" },
  "security": { "whitelist": "10.0.0.0/8,172.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16" },
  "tls": {
    "ca_cert": "/dgraph/tls/ca.crt",
    "client_auth_type": "REQUIREANDVERIFY",
    "server_cert": "/dgraph/tls/node.crt",
    "server_key": "/dgraph/tls/node.key",
    "use_system_ca": true,
    "internal_port": true,
    "client_cert": "/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.crt",
    "client_key": "/dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.key"
  }
}

YAML config file

In YAML, the --<flagname> option-a=value;option-b=value can be represented as:

<flagname>:
 option-a: value
 opton-b: value

The following example YAML config file (config.yml) using kebab-case:

badger:
  compression: zstd:1
trace:
  jaeger: http://jaeger:14268
security:
  whitelist: 10.0.0.0/8,172.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16
tls:
  ca-cert: /dgraph/tls/ca.crt
  client-auth-type: REQUIREANDVERIFY
  server-cert: /dgraph/tls/node.crt
  server-key: /dgraph/tls/node.key
  use-system-ca: true
  internal-port: true
  client-cert: /dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.crt
  client-key: /dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.key

The following example YAML config file (config.yml) using snake_case:

badger:
  compression: zstd:1
trace:
  jaeger: http://jaeger:14268
security:
  whitelist: 10.0.0.0/8,172.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16
tls:
  ca_cert: /dgraph/tls/ca.crt
  client_auth_type: REQUIREANDVERIFY
  server_cert: /dgraph/tls/node.crt
  server_key: /dgraph/tls/node.key
  use_system_ca: true
  internal_port: true
  client_cert: /dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.crt
  client_key: /dgraph/tls/client.dgraphuser.key