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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.

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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 superflags. Superflags are compound flags that contain one or more options that let you define multiple settings in a semicolon-delimited list. The general syntax for superflags is as follows: --<flagname> option-a=value-a; option-b=value-b. The following example shows how to use superflags 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"

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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. So, the environment variable syntax for a superflag (--<superflag-name> option-a=value; option-b=value) is <SUPERFLAG-NAME>="option-a=value;option-b=value". The following 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"

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Configuration file

You can specify a configuration file using the Dgraph CLI with the --config flag (for example, dgraph alpha --config my_config.json), or using an environment variable, (for example, 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 superflag is used as a key that points to a hash. The hash consists of key: value pairs that correspond to the superflag’s list of option=value pairs.
The formats .toml, .hcl, and .properties are not supported in release v21.03.0.
When representing the superflag options in the hash, you can use either kebab-case or snake_case for names of the keys.

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JSON config file

In JSON, you can represent a superflag and its options (--<superflag-name> option-a=value;option-b=value) as follows: 
{
  "<superflag-name>": {
    "option-a": "value",
    "option-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"
  }
}

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YAML config file

In YAML, you can represent a superflag and its options (--<superflag-name> option-a=value;option-b=value) as follows: 
<superflag-name>:
  option-a: value
  option-b: value
The following example YAML config file (config.yml) uses 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) uses 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