1. Docker: deploy/.env is the source

In Docker, you edit deploy/.env. Every app container start writes a fresh config.php from these values. Do not edit config.php by hand in a Docker installation, because your changes will be overwritten at the next container start.

Instance and URL

Variable	Use
`COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME`	Unique Docker Compose project name. It affects container names and Traefik router names.
`APBOARD_URL`	Full public URL, such as `https://forum.example.com`. No trailing slash.
`APBOARD_DOMAIN`	Domain only, such as `forum.example.com`. Traefik uses it in the routing rule.

Database

Variable	Use
`APBOARD_DB_HOST`	Use `db` in Docker. For plain installations this becomes the database host in `config.php`.
`APBOARD_DB_NAME`	Name of the APBoard database.
`APBOARD_DB_USER`	Database user APBoard uses for normal operation.
`APBOARD_DB_PASSWORD`	Password for the APBoard database user.
`APBOARD_DB_ROOT_PASSWORD`	MariaDB root password used by the database container.
`APBOARD_DB_PREFIX`	Table prefix. The default is `apb_`. Keep it unless you need a different prefix.

First admin account

Docker uses APBOARD_FIRST_ADMIN_EMAIL and APBOARD_FIRST_ADMIN_PASSWORD only to initialize the first administrator. The helper script changes the placeholder admin account only while it still uses the placeholder email admin@example.com. After you change the account in APBoard, Docker will not overwrite it.

SMTP mail

Variable	Example	Use
`APBOARD_SMTP_HOST`	`smtp.example.com`	SMTP server hostname.
`APBOARD_SMTP_PORT`	`587`	Use 587 for STARTTLS or 465 for SMTPS.
`APBOARD_SMTP_AUTH`	`true`	Use authentication. Most providers require it.
`APBOARD_SMTP_SECURE`	`starttls`	Use `starttls`, `smtps` or `none`.
`APBOARD_SMTP_USER`	`noreply@example.com`	SMTP login name.
`APBOARD_SMTP_PASS`	`mail password`	SMTP password or app password.
`APBOARD_SMTP_FROM_EMAIL`	`noreply@example.com`	Sender address shown in APBoard emails.
`APBOARD_SMTP_FROM_NAME`	`My Forum`	Sender name shown in mail clients.

2. Plain installation: config.php is the source

In a plain installation, the setup wizard writes config.php into the APBoard root directory. APBoard reads this file on every request. You can edit it later if your database, URL or SMTP settings change.

php

<?php
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['url']             = 'https://forum.example.com';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['db_server']       = 'localhost';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['db_database']     = 'apboard';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['db_user']         = 'apboard';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['db_password']     = 'database password';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['db_tableprepend'] = 'apb_';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_host']       = 'smtp.example.com';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_port']       = 587;
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_auth']       = true;
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_user']       = 'noreply@example.com';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_pass']       = 'mail password';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_fromemail']  = 'noreply@example.com';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_fromname']   = 'My Forum';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['smtp_secure']     = 'starttls';
$GLOBALS['CONFIG']['trusted_proxies'] = ['127.0.0.1', '::1', '172.16.0.0/12'];

3. URL and trusted proxies

url must match the public forum URL exactly. APBoard uses it for links, mail content, host validation and the sitemap. If your public site uses HTTPS, this value must start with https://.

trusted_proxies tells APBoard which reverse proxies may provide headers such as X-Forwarded-Proto. Docker behind Traefik uses the private Docker network range 172.16.0.0/12. On a simple plain server without a reverse proxy, the default values are fine.

4. Database prefix

The table prefix is normally apb_. The plain setup wizard can import the initial SQL dump with another prefix, but you should only change it before the first installation. Do not change the prefix after APBoard already has tables unless you know exactly how to rename every table and update config.php.

5. File generated by Docker

In Docker, config.php is generated at container start. This is normal. If you need to change configuration, edit deploy/.env and recreate the app container.

bash

cd /home/apboard/forum/deploy
nano .env
docker compose up -d --build

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Configuration