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Configure NOW - Learning Management System

NOW-LMS provides flexible configuration options to meet different deployment needs. This guide covers all configuration methods and available options.

Configuration Methods

NOW-LMS supports multiple configuration approaches:

  1. Environment Variables (recommended for containers/cloud)
  2. Configuration Files (recommended for traditional servers)
  3. Runtime Configuration (for advanced integrations)

Configuration Priority

The configuration loading follows this priority order (highest to lowest):

  1. Runtime overrides (programmatic overrides)
  2. Environment variables (highest priority for runtime)
  3. Configuration file (if found in search paths)
  4. Default values (built-in defaults)

This means environment variables will always override file configuration, allowing administrators to selectively override specific settings without modifying configuration files.

Environment Variables

For a complete list of all available environment variables, see the Configuration Setup Guide.

Configuration Files (ConfigObj)

NOW-LMS supports loading core configuration from files using the ConfigObj library. This provides flexibility for system administrators who prefer file-based configuration management in Linux environments.

Important Note: Only core configuration variables can be set via configuration files. Many application-specific options (navigation features, email settings, localization, etc.) must be configured exclusively through environment variables.

File Search Order

NOW-LMS searches for configuration files in the following order, using the first file found:

  1. Environment variable: NOW_LMS_CONFIG=/path/to/config.conf
  2. System-wide config: /etc/now-lms/now-lms.conf
  3. Alternative system config: /etc/now-lms.conf
  4. User config: ~/.config/now-lms/now-lms.conf
  5. Local config: ./now-lms.conf (current directory)

Configuration File Format

Configuration files use a simple INI-like format supported by ConfigObj and can contain core configuration variables only:

# Core Configuration (Supported in config files)
SECRET_KEY = set_a_very_secure_secret_key
DATABASE_URL = postgresql+pg8000://scott:tiger@localhost/mydatabase

# Application Behavior (Requires environment variables only)
# NOW_LMS_AUTO_MIGRATE = 1
# NOW_LMS_FORCE_HTTPS = 0
# LOG_LEVEL = INFO

# Cache Configuration (Core - supported in config files)
REDIS_URL = redis://localhost:6379/0
CACHE_MEMCACHED_SERVERS = 127.0.0.1:11211

# File Storage (Core - supported in config files)
NOW_LMS_DATA_DIR = /var/lib/now-lms/data
NOW_LMS_THEMES_DIR = /var/lib/now-lms/themes

# Localization (Requires environment variables only)
# NOW_LMS_LANG = en
# NOW_LMS_TIMEZONE = UTC
# NOW_LMS_CURRENCY = USD

# Email Configuration (Requires environment variables only)
# MAIL_SERVER = smtp.example.com
# MAIL_PORT = 587
# MAIL_USERNAME = noreply@example.com
# MAIL_PASSWORD = email_password
# MAIL_USE_TLS = True
# MAIL_DEFAULT_SENDER = noreply@example.com

Variables that require environment variables only (commented out above):

  • All NOW_LMS_* variables
  • All MAIL_* variables
  • All LMS_* variables
  • LOG_LEVEL and other application-specific settings

Alias Support

For convenience, the following aliases are supported in configuration files:

  • DATABASE_URL → automatically mapped to SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI
  • REDIS_URL → automatically mapped to CACHE_REDIS_URL

Both the alias and the canonical name will be available in the application configuration.

Example Usage

# Create system-wide configuration
sudo mkdir -p /etc/now-lms
sudo tee /etc/now-lms/now-lms.conf > /dev/null << EOF
SECRET_KEY = your_secure_secret_key
DATABASE_URL = postgresql+pg8000://nowlms:password@localhost/nowlms_db
LOG_LEVEL = INFO
CUSTOM_DATA_DIR = /var/lib/now-lms/data
EOF

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chmod 600 /etc/now-lms/now-lms.conf
sudo chown now-lms:now-lms /etc/now-lms/now-lms.conf

# Start NOW-LMS (will automatically load the config file)
lmsctl serve

Security Considerations

  • File Permissions: Set configuration files to mode 0600 (readable only by owner) to protect sensitive values like SECRET_KEY
  • Environment Override: Use environment variables to override sensitive settings in production without modifying files
  • Optional Dependency: ConfigObj is an optional dependency; the system works normally without it using environment variables

Logging

When a configuration file is loaded, NOW-LMS will log an informational message:

INFO: Loading configuration from file: /etc/now-lms/now-lms.conf

Runtime Configuration

You can also configure NOW-LMS at runtime by setting configuration values in the config dictionary of the main Flask app:

from now_lms import lms_app

# Configure your app:
lms_app.config["SECRET_KEY"] = "set_a_very_secure_secret_key"
lms_app.config["SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI"] = "database_uri"

app = lms_app

Note that initial log messages will refer to the default options because you are overwriting options after the initial import of the app.

Database Configuration

NOW-LMS automatically corrects database URI formats to ensure compatibility:

PostgreSQL

# These formats are automatically converted:
postgres://user:pass@host:port/db        → postgresql+pg8000://user:pass@host:port/db
postgresql://user:pass@host:port/db      → postgresql+pg8000://user:pass@host:port/db

# Heroku PostgreSQL with SSL (automatic detection):
postgres://user:pass@host:port/db        → postgresql://user:pass@host:port/db?sslmode=require

MySQL/MariaDB

# These formats are automatically converted:
mysql://user:pass@host:port/db           → mysql+mysqlconnector://user:pass@host:port/db
mariadb://user:pass@host:port/db         → mariadb+mariadbconnector://user:pass@host:port/db

SQLite

# Local file database:
sqlite:///path/to/database.db

# In-memory database (testing only):
sqlite://

Next Steps

  • For deployment-specific configuration, see the Setup Guide
  • For database setup, see the Database Configuration
  • For server deployment, see the platform-specific guides