# Configuration

RoadRunner supports both **YAML** and **JSON** configuration formats. The examples in our documentation use YAML, but you can use JSON as well.

{% hint style="info" %}
To convert a YAML configuration file to JSON, you can use an online tool such as <https://onlineyamltools.com/convert-yaml-to-json>.
{% endhint %}

## Configuration reference

The most recent configuration reference with all available options can be found in the `.rr.yaml` file in the RoadRunner GitHub repository:

* [**.rr.yaml**](https://github.com/roadrunner-server/roadrunner/blob/master/.rr.yaml)

{% hint style="warning" %}
We use dots as level separators, e.g.: `http.pool`, you can't use dots in section names, queue names, etc. You can find out more about it [here](https://github.com/roadrunner-server/roadrunner/issues/1529).
{% endhint %}

## Configuration file

The RoadRunner looks for a configuration file named `.rr.yaml` in the same directory as the server binary.

If your configuration file and other application files are located in a different directory than the binary, you can use the `-w` option to specify the working directory.

```bash
./rr serve -w /path/to/project
```

You can also use the `-c` option to specify the path to the configuration file if you don't want to specify the working directory.

```bash
./rr serve -c /path/to/project/.rr-dev.yaml
```

Or you can combine the `-c` and `-w` options to specify both the configuration file and the working directory:

```bash
./rr serve -c .rr-dev.yaml -w /path/to/project
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Read more about starting the server in the [**Server Commands**](https://docs.roadrunner.dev/docs/app-server/cli) section.
{% endhint %}

### CLI command and arguments

You can also use environment variables in CLI commands to customize the behavior of your RR server. This is especially useful when you need to pass configuration values that are environment-specific or sensitive, such as secrets or API keys.

```bash
set -a
source /var/www/config/.env
set +a

exec /var/www/rr \
  -c /var/www/.rr.yaml \
  -w /var/www \
  -o http.pool.num_workers=${RR_NUM_WORKERS:-8} \
  -o http.pool.max_jobs=${RR_MAX_JOBS:-16} \
  -o http.pool.supervisor.max_worker_memory=${RR_MAX_WORKER_MEMORY:-512}
  serve
```

The `set -a` enables automatic exporting of variables. Any variables that are defined in `/var/www/config/.env` will be automatically exported to the environment, making them available to any child processes that are executed from the current shell. The final `set +a` command disables automatic exporting of variables, ensuring that only the variables that were defined in `/var/www/config/.env` are exported, and preventing any unintended variables from leaking into the environment.

In this example, the following options are used:

| Option                     | Description                                                                                                                          |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **-c**                     | Specifies the configuration file.                                                                                                    |
| **-w**                     | Specifies the working directory.                                                                                                     |
| **-o**                     | Overwrites specific configuration options.                                                                                           |
| **/var/www/config/.env**   | File that contains the required environment variables.                                                                               |
| **${RR\_NUM\_WORKERS:-8}** | Sets the number of workers to `RR_NUM_WORKERS` from the `.env` file or uses the default value of `8` if the variable is not present. |

## Support for the nested configurations: `[>=2024.2.0]`, [issue](https://github.com/roadrunner-server/roadrunner/issues/935)

Using the following syntax, you may include other configuration files into the main one:

{% code title=".rr.yaml" %}

```yaml
version: "3"

include:
  - .rr.include1-sub1.yaml
  - ../foo/bar/rr.include1-sub2.yaml

reload:
  interval: 1s
  patterns: [".php"]
```

{% endcode %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
Starting from version `v2024.2.0`, the `includes` configuration option no longer has restrictions on where the included config can be placed. However, please note that the path for the included configurations is calculated based on the working directory of the RoadRunner process.
{% endhint %}

Includes override the main configuration file. For example, if you have the following nested configuration:

{% code title=".rr.include1-sub1.yaml" %}

```yaml
version: "3"

server:
  command: "php php_test_files/psr-worker-bench.php"
  relay: pipes

http:
  address: 127.0.0.1:15389
  middleware:
    - "sendfile"
  pool:
    allocate_timeout: 10s
    num_workers: 2
```

{% endcode %}

It will override the `server` and `http` sections of the main configuration file. You may use env variables in the included configuration files, but you can't use overrides for the nested configuration. For example:

{% hint style="info" %}
The next 'include' will override values set by the previous 'include'. Values in the root `.rr.yaml` will also be overwritten by the includes. Feel free to send us feedback on this feature.
{% endhint %}

{% code title=".rr.include1-sub1.yaml" %}

```yaml
version: "3"

server:
  command: "${PHP_COMMAND:-php_test_files/psr-worker-bench.php}"
  relay: pipes
```

{% endcode %}

You may use any number of the included configuration files via CLI command, in quotas and separated by whitespace. For example:

```bash
./rr serve -e -c .rr.yaml -o include=".rr.yaml .rr2.yaml"
```

## What's Next?

1. [Server Commands](https://docs.roadrunner.dev/docs/app-server/cli) - learn how to start the server.
2. [PHP Workers — Environment variables](https://docs.roadrunner.dev/docs/php-worker/environment) - learn how to configure PHP workers environment.
3. [Config plugin](https://docs.roadrunner.dev/docs/plugins/config) - learn more about the Config plugin.