etherpad-lite/doc/admin
John McLear f79cabe74c
Env-var overrides for offline/air-gapped installs (update check, plugin catalog, updater) (#7917)
* feat(settings): env-var overrides for update-check/plugin-catalog/updater (offline installs)

Air-gapped and firewalled deployments could not disable Etherpad's outbound
calls (the hourly version check, the admin plugin catalogue, and the
self-updater) without editing settings.json inside the container image — the
shipped settings.json.docker hardcoded updates.tier and omitted the privacy
block entirely, so there was no env-var to flip.

Wire the relevant keys through the existing ${ENV:default} substitution in both
settings.json.docker and settings.json.template:

  - PRIVACY_UPDATE_CHECK            (privacy.updateCheck, default true)
  - PRIVACY_PLUGIN_CATALOG          (privacy.pluginCatalog, default true)
  - UPDATES_TIER                    (updates.tier, default notify; "off" = no calls)
  - UPDATES_SOURCE / UPDATES_CHANNEL / UPDATES_CHECK_INTERVAL_HOURS /
    UPDATES_GITHUB_REPO / UPDATES_REQUIRE_ADMIN_FOR_STATUS (docker)
  - UPDATE_SERVER                   (updateServer endpoint)

Document the full set in doc/docker.md (new "Updates & privacy" section) and
cross-link from doc/admin/updates.md. Add backend regression tests that parse
the shipped settings.json.docker and settings.json.template and assert the
overrides apply with correct boolean/numeric coercion, so a future edit that
drops the ${ENV} placeholders fails loudly.

Addresses #7911 (item 2). No code changes — config + docs + tests only.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: address Qodo review — point to PRIVACY.md, clarify tier=off scope

- Outbound-call docs/comments referenced doc/privacy.md (the storage/logging
  doc); the canonical outbound-call inventory is repo-root PRIVACY.md, which the
  runtime messages in UpdateCheck.ts / Settings.ts also reference. Re-point
  settings.json.{template,docker} and doc/docker.md there.
- doc/admin/updates.md said updates.tier="off" means "no HTTP request will leave
  the instance", but the legacy UpdateCheck.ts call to ${updateServer}/info.json
  is gated by privacy.updateCheck, not updates.tier. Clarify that air-gapped
  installs must set PRIVACY_UPDATE_CHECK=false too.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: link PRIVACY.md via absolute URL to satisfy VitePress dead-link check

PRIVACY.md lives at the repo root, outside the doc/ tree VitePress builds, so a
relative link to it (../PRIVACY.md / ../../PRIVACY.md) is flagged as a dead link
and fails `docs:build`. Use the absolute GitHub URL instead, matching how
doc/configuration.md already links settings.json.template.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-13 14:32:46 +01:00
..
updates.md Env-var overrides for offline/air-gapped installs (update check, plugin catalog, updater) (#7917) 2026-06-13 14:32:46 +01:00