Editing Configuration file (section)

{{Short description|File holding settings for a computer program}}
{{Redirect|rc file|resource scripts|Resource (Windows)}}

A '''configuration file''', a.k.a. '''config file''', is a [[computer file|file]] that stores [[computer data|data]] used to configure a [[software system]] such as an [[application software|application]], a [[server (computing)|server]] or an [[operating system]].

Some applications provide a tool to create, modify, and verify the [[syntax]] of their configuration files {{endash}} sometimes via [[graphical user interface]] (GUI). For context, [[system administrator]]s may be expected to create and modify [[plain text|text]] config files via a text editor. For server processes and operating-system settings, there is often no standard tool, but operating systems may provide graphical interfaces such as [[YaST]] or debconf.

Some computer programs only read their configuration files at [[Booting|startup]]. Others periodically check the configuration files for changes. Users can instruct some programs to re-read the configuration files and apply the changes to the current process, or indeed to read arbitrary files as a configuration file. There are no definitive standards or strong conventions.

[[File:Gnu grub config file.png|400px|thumb|A configuration file for [[GNU GRUB]].]]