Configuration Sources

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The GConf repository contains a series of storage locations that are called configuration sources. The configuration sources are listed in the GConf path file, which is located in the /etc/gconf/2 directory .

The path file specifies the following information for each configuration source:

Backend module to use to read the repository
Permissions on the repository
Location of the repository

The GConf path file also contains include instructions. By default, the contents of the GConf path file are as follows:

xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory
include /etc/gconf/2/local-mandatory.path
include "$(HOME)/.gconf.path"
include /etc/gconf/2/local-defaults.path
xml:readwrite:$(HOME)/.gconf
xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults

When GConf searches for a preference value, GConf reads the configuration sources in the order specified in the path file. The following table describes the configuration sources in the path file.

Configuration Source	Description
Mandatory	The permissions to the configuration source are set to read only. Users cannot overwrite the values in this source. So, the preferences in the source are mandatory.
User	The configuration source is stored in the `.gconf` directory in the home directory of the user. When the user sets a preference, the new preference information is added to this location. You can use the Configuration Editor application to modify the user configuration source.
Default	The configuration source contains the default preference settings.

GConf applies preferences in the following order of priority:

Mandatory preferences
User-specified preferences
Default preferences

The include instructions in the GConf path file enable you to specify other configuration sources.

Included Configuration Source	Description
`/etc/gconf/2/local-mandatory.path`	Use this configuration source to store mandatory preference values for a particular system.
`$(HOME)/.gconf.path`	Specify the location of the configuration source in the home directory in the `.gconf.path` file.
`/etc/gconf/2/local-defaults.path`	Use this configuration source to store default preference values for a particular system.