Editing Configuration orientation

[[Category:Howto]]
[[Category:Manual]]
[[Category:Configuration]]

You've just installed EPrints 3 and created a repository, and now you're keen to get started on customising it. Before diving into the how-tos, take some time to read through this brief orientation guide and familiarise yourself with the EPrints configuration landscape.

__TOC__

==Where are the configuration files?==

The default installation directory for EPrints is:

 /opt/eprints3/

(You may have chosen a different installation directory when you installed EPrints.)

There are several sub-directories at this level, but this guide covers only those relevant to repository configuration - the ''lib'' and ''archives'' directories. Before looking at the contents of these directories, we need to understand the concepts of ''global'' and ''repository-specific'' (or  ''local'') configuration. If several repositories running on your server are very similar you should consider a [[sitewide configuration]].

'''What about everything else?''' The EPrints installation directory contains several other files and directories, which are described in the [[EPrints Directory Structure]] section.

==Local vs global configuration==

A single installation of EPrints can run multiple repositories, each potentially very different in style and functionality. Therefore, EPrints configuration files are divided into two default sets: ''global configuration'' and ''repository-specific configuration''. Each repository shares the global configuration settings, whilst keeping its own set of local (private) configuration settings.

EPrints tries to strike a sensible balance between the two sets. The global set contains the configuration options that you are probably least likely to need to change (although they are by no means unchangeable - you can override a global setting for a specific repository if you need to). On the other hand, the repository-specific set contains the most often tweaked settings.

===The ''lib'' directory===

[[Image:Orientation_lib.png|right]]

The lib directory is where the global configuration files are kept. '''This directory should be considered [[Read Only Directories|read only]]'''. Best practice when changing a global setting for a particular repository is to override the setting at the repository level rather than edit the global configuration files directly. The configuration files in ''lib'' are organised into subdirectories according to their function, which should help make locating a specific configuration setting intuitive.

[[EPrints_Directory_Structure/eprints3/lib|Explore the contents of the lib directory]].

Note that the ''defaultcfg'' subdirectory contains the default set of configuration files that are copied into each new repository's local configuration directory. These local configuration directories are covered in the next section.

<br clear="all" />

===The ''archives'' directory===

[[Image:Orientation_cfg.png|right]]

Each repository has its own subdirectory (named according to the repository id) under the ''archives'' directory. 

Each repository directory contains several [[EPrints_Directory_Structure/eprints3/archives/ARCHIVEID|subdirectories]], including the ''cfg'' directory. This is where the repository-specific configuration files are kept.

[[EPrints_Directory_Structure/eprints3/archives/ARCHIVEID/cfg|Explore the contents of the cfg directory]].