Overriding OpenMRS Default Runtime Properties

Runtime Properties

These properties are loaded when a webapp is started. It is used to specify database connection settings, custom look and feel per installation, sensitive data, etc.

This file is created by the initialization wizard and does not have be created manually as of 1.5.0.

In the following descriptions, {WEBAPP NAME} is used in place of your web applications name (the name of the war file you loaded). Often this will be openmrs.

Do not use {APPDATA} in your path. OpenMRS will not render it. It is only used here as an example. In Windows 7+ this is C:\Users\currentuserrunningtomcat\AppData\Roaming\OpenMRS. In Windows XP and below this is C:\Docs and Settings\currentuserrunningtomcat\Application Data\

In some versions of windows, this can be found at C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\Application Data\OpenMRS

While in some others, it can be found at C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\Application Data\OpenMRS

As of version 1.8, OpenMRS will look for the runtime properties file in this order:

The current directory:
./{WEBAPP NAME}-runtime.properties
Using the environment variable
{WEBAPP NAME}_RUNTIME_PROPERTIES_FILE
User's home directory
- Windows:
  {APPDATA}/OpenMRS/{WEBAPP NAME}-runtime.properties
- *Linux:
  (NOTE: On Linux, in some occasions, it is still necessary to set the
  environment variable to point to your file in order to get OpenMRS to read it.)
In the current directory

Prior to version 1.8 the "current directory" was the last location searched for the runtime properties

The runtime properties that can be overwritten are shown below with their default values and a couple of available optional properties:

Where is my runtime properties file?

When OpenMRS starts up, it will print a message to the server log file about where it is. Look for the string "Using runtime properties file: " and the path following it.