Locate the main configuration file of Joomla

This tutorial reviews the main configuration of Joomla 3.x file. It allows you to edit certain options for your website on a server-level, without even accessing the administrative area of your website. In Joomla, you get a large number of options and information that can help you during the development of your website. Even if you are not a hardcore developer or a Joomla expert, the main configuration file of the script contains valuable information for your website and the way it is set on the server. It provides you with more flexibility on a server-level and allows you to perform different actions such as a backup creation/restore, configuration, change of the location for your website, etc.

To locate Joomla main configuration file, you simply have to enter the ROOT directory of your website. For example, if you access your website via the following link:

http://www.example.com/

where example.com is the actual domain that you use on your website, it means that Joomla installation is located directly within the public_html/ directory of your account. However, if you access your website via the following link:

http://www.example.com/joomla30/

where example.com is your domain name and “joomla30” is a subfolder on your account, it means that Joomla installation is located in a folder, called “joomla30” within the public_html/ directory of your account.

When you enter the installation directory of your Joomla website, you will notice a number of files and folders. The file that you need to be looking for is called:

configuration.php

When you access the configuration.php file, you will be presented with the different options available for editing.

class JConfig {
        public $offline = '0'
        public $offline_message = 'This site is down for maintenance.'
        public $display_offline_message = '1'
        public $offline_image = ''
        public $sitename = 'FastComet'
        public $editor = 'tinymce'
        public $captcha = '0'
        public $list_limit = '20'
        public $access = '1'
        public $debug = '0'
        public $debug_lang = '0'
        public $dbtype = 'mysql'
        public $host = 'localhost'
        public $user = 'example_joom875'
        public $password = '[email protected]'
        public $db = 'example_joom875'
        public $dbprefix = 'jos_'
        public $live_site = ''
        public $secret = 'rfnjsbxhvlc8kcnv'
        public $gzip = '0'
        public $error_reporting = 'default'

There are more options, so we definitely suggest that you review the complete file, in order to get a better understanding of it in case you need that in the future.

One of the most important lines of information in the main Joomla configuration file are the ones for you website database. They display the hostname of your database server (usually set to localhost), the database name, database user, password, database prefix and database type. It is important to review that information as it will be required when you intend to make a backup or restore of your database.