Configuration

Orvano reads its settings from environment variables. On a server they live in /opt/orvano/.env, which Docker Compose passes to each service. Every setting is checked when a service starts: a bad value stops that service with a message that names the setting (never its value), so a typo can’t half work.

After you change .env, apply it from /opt/orvano:

docker compose up -d

Settings the installer writes

The installer writes these, and keeps them on every later run. Change them by running the installer again with a flag, not by hand.

Setting	What it holds
ORVANO_PUBLIC_URL	The address of your install, such as https://orvano.example.com. It is in every token Orvano issues, so changing it signs everyone out. Use --domain.
ORVANO_ACME_EMAIL	The Let’s Encrypt account email, or empty.
ORVANO_VERSION	The installed version.
ORVANO_MASTER_KEYS	The key Orvano encrypts stored secrets with. Back it up.
ORVANO_SETUP_TOKEN	The token in the setup link. Once the first admin exists, it does nothing.
POSTGRES_PASSWORD, ORVANO_ADMIN_PASSWORD, ORVANO_APP_PASSWORD	The database passwords.

Settings you may change

Setting	Default	What it does
ORVANO_DELETE_GRACE_DAYS	7	How many days a deleted project or org can be restored before it’s removed for good. A whole number from 0 to 90.
ORVANO_TRUSTED_PROXIES	private	Which proxies in front of Orvano may tell it the client’s real IP address: private (loopback and private networks), none, or a comma separated list of addresses and CIDR ranges. The IP shows in session lists and drives per IP rate limits.
ORVANO_EMAIL_INSTALL_HOURLY_LIMIT	200	How many emails an hour each project may send through the install’s email server. Projects with their own server have no limit. A whole number from 1 to 1,000,000.
ORVANO_SMTP_ALLOW_PRIVATE_HOSTS	false	true lets projects use an email server on a private network address. Leave it off unless your mail server is on your private network. See Email delivery.
ORVANO_INSTALL_SMTP_URL	not set	Sets up the install’s email server from configuration, such as smtps://user:password@smtp.example.com. See Email delivery.
ORVANO_INSTALL_SMTP_FROM	not set	The From address for that server. Required when the URL is set.
ORVANO_EVENT_RETENTION_DAYS	7	How many days Orvano keeps its internal event records.
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT	not set	Send traces, metrics, and logs to an OpenTelemetry collector.

Postgres memory

On every run the installer sizes Postgres to the server’s memory and writes ORVANO_PG_SHARED_BUFFERS, ORVANO_PG_EFFECTIVE_CACHE_SIZE, ORVANO_PG_WORK_MEM, ORVANO_PG_MAINTENANCE_WORK_MEM, and ORVANO_PG_MEMORY_LIMIT. To set them yourself, add ORVANO_PG_TUNING=manual to .env; the installer then leaves all five alone.

Your own changes

To change how a service runs, such as adding an environment variable or a volume, write /opt/orvano/docker-compose.override.yml. The installer never touches it, and Compose merges it into docker-compose.yml on every start:

docker-compose.override.yml

services:
  api:
    environment:
      OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT: http://collector:4317

Override a service’s own keys, as above, not the x- blocks at the top of docker-compose.yml: Compose resolves those before it merges the files.

A local install

orvano install --local writes a few more settings into its folder’s .env, which only the installer reads: ORVANO_LOCAL, ORVANO_LOCAL_PORT, and Compose’s own COMPOSE_FILE, COMPOSE_PATH_SEPARATOR, and COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME. It also sets ORVANO_INSTALL_SMTP_URL to the local inbox. See Run Orvano locally.