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Initializing the configuration

Let’s initialize our new server’s configuration files with some sensible defaults by running the bundled bin/init script.
Run initialization
This script will not overwrite any existing configuration files. Now let’s check the contents of the config/ directory using the ls command:
List the config directory
If everything was successfully initialized you should see three configuration files: overleaf.rc, variables.env and version. These are the main server configuration files and allow you to customize how your server operates and how your users interact with your instance.
For now, it’s enough to know that these files exist and where you can find them. Later in the documentation we’ll go through each of the files in more detail and explain how you can customize your instance using them. If you want to skip ahead you can see a full breakdown of these configuration files on the Files and locations page.
Last modified on October 4, 2026