# Include an External Configuration File

You can share configuration sections or parameters between ACI server configuration files. The following sections describe different ways to include content from an external configuration file.

You can include a configuration file in its entirety, specified configuration sections, or a single parameter.

When you include content from an external configuration file, the `GetConfig` and `ValidateConfig` actions operate on the combined configuration, after any external content is merged in.

In the procedures in the following sections, you can specify external configuration file locations by using absolute paths, relative paths, and network locations. For example:

    ../sharedconfig.cfg
    K:\sharedconfig\sharedsettings.cfg
    \\example.com\shared\idol.cfg
    file://example.com/shared/idol.cfg

Relative paths are relative to the primary configuration file.

NOTE: You can use nested inclusions, for example, you can refer to a shared configuration file that references a third file. However, the external configuration files must not refer back to your original configuration file. These circular references result in an error, and Objective Connector does not start.

Similarly, you cannot use any of these methods to refer to a different section in your primary configuration file.

## Include the Whole External Configuration File

This method allows you to import the whole external configuration file at a specified point in your configuration file.

To include the whole external configuration file

1. Open your configuration file in a text editor.
2. Find the place in the configuration file where you want to add the external configuration file.

3. On a new line, type a left angle bracket (`<`), followed by the path to and name of the external configuration file, in quotation marks (`""`). You can use relative paths and network locations. For example:

       < "K:\sharedconfig\sharedsettings.cfg"

4. Save and close the configuration file.

## Include Sections of an External Configuration File

This method allows you to import one or more configuration sections (including the section headings) from an external configuration file at a specified point in your configuration file. You can include a whole configuration section in this way, but the configuration section name in the external file must exactly match what you want to use in your file. If you want to use a configuration section from the external file with a different name, see Merge a Section from an External Configuration File.

To include sections of an external configuration file

1. Open your configuration file in a text editor.
2. Find the place in the configuration file where you want to add the external configuration file section.

3. On a new line, type a left angle bracket (`<`), followed by the path of the external configuration file, in quotation marks (`""`). You can use relative paths and network locations. After the configuration file path, add the configuration section name that you want to include. For example:

       < "K:\sharedconfig\extrasettings.cfg" [License]

   NOTE: You cannot include a section that already exists in your configuration file.

4. Save and close the configuration file.

## Include Parameters from an External Configuration File

This method allows you to import one or more parameters from an external configuration file at a specified point in your configuration file. You can import a single parameter or use wildcards to specify multiple parameters. The parameter values in the external file must match what you want to use in your file. This method does not import the section heading, such as `[License]` in the following examples.

To include parameters from an external configuration file

1. Open your configuration file in a text editor.
2. Find the place in the configuration file where you want to add the parameters from the external configuration file.

3. On a new line, type a left angle bracket (`<`), followed by the path of the external configuration file, in quotation marks (`""`). You can use relative paths and network locations. After the configuration file path, add the name of the section that contains the parameter, followed by the parameter name. For example:

       < "license.cfg" [License] LicenseServerHost

   To specify a default value for the parameter, in case it does not exist in the external configuration file, specify the configuration section, parameter name, and then an equals sign (`=`) followed by the default value. For example:

       < "license.cfg" [License] LicenseServerHost=localhost

   You can use wildcards to import multiple parameters, but this method does not support default values. The `*` wildcard matches zero or more characters. The `?` wildcard matches any single character. Use the pipe character `|` as a separator between wildcard strings. For example:

       < "license.cfg" [License] LicenseServer*

4. Save and close the configuration file.

## Merge a Section from an External Configuration File

This method allows you to include a configuration section from an external configuration file as part of your Objective Connector configuration file. For example, you might want to specify a standard SSL configuration section in an external file and share it between several servers. You can use this method if the configuration section that you want to import has a different name to the one you want to use.

To merge a configuration section from an external configuration file

1. Open your configuration file in a text editor.

2. Find or create the configuration section that you want to include from an external file. For example:

       [SSLOptions1]

3. After the configuration section name, type a left angle bracket (`<`), followed by the path to and name of the external configuration file, in quotation marks (`""`). You can use relative paths and network locations. For example:

       [SSLOptions1] < "../sharedconfig/ssloptions.cfg"

   If the configuration section name in the external configuration file does not match the name that you want to use in your configuration file, specify the section to import after the configuration file name. For example:

       [SSLOptions1] < "../sharedconfig/ssloptions.cfg" [SharedSSLOptions]

   In this example, Objective Connector uses the values in the `[SharedSSLOptions]` section of the external configuration file as the values in the `[SSLOptions1]` section of the Objective Connector configuration file.

   NOTE: You can include additional configuration parameters in the section in your file. If these parameters also exist in the imported external configuration file, Objective Connector uses the values in the local configuration file. For example:

       [SSLOptions1] < "ssloptions.cfg" [SharedSSLOptions]
       SSLCACertificatesPath=C:\IDOL\HTTPConnector\CACERTS\

4. Save and close the configuration file.

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