Wikibase Suite (WBS) stores instance configuration in the config directory.
Some files are supplied with WBS and others are created during first setup.
Back up the complete directory because it contains local changes, generated
configuration, and secrets.
This is the user-owned MediaWiki configuration file. WBS creates it during first setup; once created, you own and control it. Add MediaWiki customizations here. WBS loads it after the configuration supplied by the Wikibase image, so values set here override the corresponding defaults. You may need to update it for MediaWiki major version upgrades.
After changing config/LocalSettings.php, restart the Wikibase and job-runner services:
docker compose restart wikibase wikibase-jobrunner
This WBS-managed file contains values unique to the installation, including database credentials, the site name and URL, and MediaWiki secrets. WBS creates it during first setup. Do not edit this file, and store its backups securely.
The presence of config/InstanceSettings.php identifies an installed
instance. Initial setup values from .env have already been written into this
file, the database volume, or other generated state, so changing those values
and restarting does not reconfigure an existing instance. Values listed as
runtime configuration
continue to be read from the container environment.
If you need to change values used during first setup, follow Resetting an Instance.
To enable or update login with a Wikimedia account, follow Enabling Login with Wikimedia.
For a major WBS upgrade, preserve the existing configuration and follow the major upgrade procedure.
This is Wikibase’s php.ini override file, a good place for tuning PHP configuration values. It gets loaded by the MediaWiki Wikibase web server’s PHP interpreter.
After changing config/wikibase-php.ini, restart the Wikibase and job-runner services:
docker compose restart wikibase wikibase-jobrunner
This configuration file allows you to control wdqs-frontend, the GUI for the Query Service.
After changing config/wdqs-frontend-config.json, restart the Query Service frontend:
docker compose restart wdqs-frontend
By default, query examples are loaded from the local Wikibase page Project:SPARQL/examples. Administrators can create that page and add local examples with <sparql> blocks. On startup, an existing configuration that still points at Wikidata is migrated by removing that legacy setting; a deliberately configured non-Wikidata examples source is preserved.
To use custom service images or change other Docker Compose settings, create docker-compose.override.yml in your WBS directory. Keep these customizations out of the tracked docker-compose.yml; editing that file directly can cause conflicts when updating WBS.
The override file is ignored by Git, and Docker Compose reads it automatically. Apply your changes by running:
docker compose up -d
Review your override after each WBS update to make sure that it remains compatible with the updated services. If you use a different override filename, pass both files explicitly with -f.