= The Trac Configuration File

[[TracGuideToc]]
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Trac is configured through the **`trac.ini`** file, located in the `<projectenv>/conf` directory. The `trac.ini` configuration file and its parent directory should be writable by the web server.

Trac monitors the timestamp of the file to trigger an environment reload when the timestamp changes. Most changes to the configuration will be reflected immediately, though changes to the `[components]` or `[logging]` sections will require restarting the web server. You may also need to restart the web server after creating a [#GlobalConfiguration global configuration] file when none was previously present.

== Global Configuration

Configuration can be shared among environments using one or more global configuration files. Options in the global configuration will be merged with the environment-specific options, with local options overriding global options. The global configuration file is specified as follows:
{{{#!ini
[inherit]
file = /path/to/global/trac.ini
}}}
Multiple files can be specified using a comma-separated list. Non-absolute paths are relative to the Environment `conf` directory.

Note that you can also specify a global option file when creating a new project, by adding the option `--inherit=/path/to/global/trac.ini` to [TracAdmin#initenv trac-admin]'s `initenv` command. If you specify `--inherit` but nevertheless intend to use a global option file with your new environment, you will have to go through the newly generated `conf/trac.ini` file and delete the entries that will otherwise override those in the global file.

There are three more options in the [#inherit-section "[inherit]"] section, [#inherit-templates_dir-option templates_dir] for sharing global templates, [#inherit-htdocs_dir-option htdocs_dir] for sharing global htdocs and [TracIni#inherit-plugins_dir-option plugins_dir], for sharing plugins. Those options can be specified in the shared configuration file, and in fact, configuration files can even be chained if you specify another `[inherit] file` there.

Note that the templates found in the `templates/` directory of the TracEnvironment have precedence over those found in `[inherit] templates_dir`. In turn, the latter have precedence over the installed templates, so be careful about what you put there. Notably, if you override a default template, refresh your modifications when you upgrade to a new version of Trac. The preferred way to perform TracInterfaceCustomization is to write a custom plugin doing an appropriate `ITemplateStreamFilter` transformation.

== Reference for settings

This is a reference of available configuration options, and their default settings.

Documentation improvements should be discussed on the [trac:MailingList#Trac-dev trac-dev mailing list] or described in a [trac:NewTicket ticket]. Even better, [trac:TracDev/SubmittingPatches submit a patch] against the docstrings in the code.

[[TracIni]]

== Configure Error Reporting

The error reporting page has a //Create// button for reporting
issues. The site to which issues are reported depends on the
configuration of the Trac site and the user’s permissions.

If the user doesn’t possess TRAC_ADMIN, the site to which a user is directed to create a ticket is determined by the [[#project-admin_trac_url-option|"[trac] admin_trac_url"]] setting:

* If empty, there will be no //Create// button.
* If set to the default value (`.`), the ticket will be 
  created on the site which the error occurred.
* Otherwise the ticket will be created at the site pointed
  to by `admin_trac_url`.

If [[#project-admin-option|"[project] admin"]] is not empty, the administrator's email address will be rendered on the error page.

If the user possesses TRAC_ADMIN, the //Create// button will direct the user to report the issue on trac.edgewall.org. If the error was generated in a plugin, the error will be reported to the project URL provided that the plugin author has included the project URL in the plugin installation data. The user possessing TRAC_ADMIN also sees a traceback and system information on the error page.

----
See also: TracAdmin, TracEnvironment
