When an App or Accessory is deployed or undeployed, the involved scripts, templates and the Manifest JSON may refer to certain symbolic names, also known as variables.

See also Functions that may be applied to variables.

Commonly-used variables

The following symbolic names are currently defined and commonly used by developers when packaging their Apps or Accessories for UBOS. They are listed alphabetically.

${apache2.gname}

Name of the Linux group used for running the Apache web server. This is convenient for setting ownership of files.

Example: http

${apache2.uname}

Name of the Linux user account used for running the Apache web server. This is convenient for setting ownership of files.

Example: http

${appconfig.accessoryids}

The identifiers of all Accessories at this AppConfiguration, separated by commas.

Example: wordpress-plugin-webmention,wordpress-theme-p2

${appconfig.apache2.appconfigfragmentfile}

The name of the Apache2 configuration fragment which may be written by this AppConfiguration.

Example: /etc/httpd/ubos/appconfigs/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62/a9f52884fef255d617981fb0a94916bf67bcf64b5.conf

${appconfig.apache2.dir}

The directory in which Apache requires this AppConfiguration’s web server files. No trailing slash.

Example: /ubos/http/sites/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62/blog (if the AppConfiguration is at relative path /blog on a Site with SiteId s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62)

${appconfig.appconfigparsdir}

The directory in which this AppConfiguration’s customization points are stored. This directory contains a subdirectory each for each installable at the AppConfiguration, which in turn contains the files for the customization points.

Example: /ubos/lib/ubos/appconfigpars/a9f52884fef255d617981fb0a94916bf67bcf64b5/

${appconfig.appid}

The identifier of the App at this AppConfiguration.

Example: wordpress

${appconfig.appconfigid}

The identifier of the AppConfiguration as specified in the Site JSON file.

Example: a9f52884fef255d617981fb0a94916bf67bcf64b5

${appconfig.cachedir}

Name of a directory in which this AppConfiguration should cache any data it needs to cache.

Example: /var/cache/a9f52884fef255d617981fb0a94916bf67bcf64b5

${appconfig.context}

Context path for this AppConfiguration as specified in the Site JSON file (or, if not given, the default from the UBOS Manifest). No trailing slash. The root context is a zero-length string.

Examples: /blog or (empty string)

${appconfig.contextnoslashorroot}

Context path for this AppConfiguration as specified in the Site JSON file (or, if not given, the default from the UBOS Manifest), but without either leading or trailing slash. The root context is represented as the string ROOT. This variable makes some Tomcat configuration statements easier.

Examples: blog or ROOT

${appconfig.contextorslash}

Context path for this AppConfiguration as specified in the Site JSON file (or, if not given, the default from the UBOS Manifest). No trailing slash. However, the root context is a single slash. This variable makes some Apache configuration statements easier that usually take a context path without trailing slash, but require a single slash when the context path would otherwise be empty.

Examples: /blog or /

${appconfig.cronjobfile}

If this AppConfiguration needs to define one or more cron jobs, this is the preferred filename it should use for this purpose.

Example: /etc/cron.d/50-a9f52884fef255d617981fb0a94916bf67bcf64b5

${appconfig.datadir}

A directory in which this AppConfiguration should preferably store data (outside of the webserver’s DocumentRoot). No trailing slash. While this variable is pre-defined, the App is responsible for actually creating the directory in its UBOS Manifest.

Example: /ubos/lib/wordpress/a9f52884fef255d617981fb0a94916bf67bcf64b5

${appconfig.mysql.dbhost.maindb}

Database host for the MySQL database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: localhost

${appconfig.mysql.dbname.maindb}

Actual name of the MySQL database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: database477

${appconfig.mysql.dbport.maindb}

Database port for the MySQL database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: 3306

${appconfig.mysql.dbuser.maindb}

Database user for the MySQL database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: fred

${appconfig.mysql.dbusercredential.maindb}

Database password for the MySQL database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: n0ts0s3cr3t

${appconfig.postgresql.dbhost.maindb}

Database host for the Postgresql database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: localhost

${appconfig.postgresql.dbname.maindb}

Actual name of the Postgresql database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: database477

${appconfig.postgresql.dbport.maindb}

Database port for the Postgresql database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: 3306

${appconfig.postgresql.dbuser.maindb}

Database user for the Postgresql database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: fred

${appconfig.postgresql.dbusercredential.maindb}

Database password for the Postgresql database whose symbolic name in the UBOS Manifest is maindb. Replace maindb with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: n0ts0s3cr3t

${appconfig.tcpport.someport}

The port number allocated for the TCP port whose symbolic port name in the UBOS Manifest is someport. Replace someport with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: 5432

${appconfig.tomcat8.contextfile}

The name of the Tomcat8 context configuration file which may be written by this AppConfiguration.

Example: /etc/tomcat8/Catalina/example.com/ROOT.xml

${appconfig.tomcat8.dir}

The directory in which Tomcat requires this AppConfiguration’s application server files. No trailing slash.

Example: /ubos/lib/tomcat8/sites/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62/a9f52884fef255d617981fb0a94916bf67bcf64b5

${appconfig.udpport.someport}

The port number allocated for the UDP port whose symbolic port name in the UBOS Manifest is someport. Replace someport with the symbolic name you used in the UBOS Manifest.

Example: 5432

${host.cachedir}

Name of a directory in which to cache data on this device.

Example: /var/cache

${host.tmpdir}

Name of a directory in which to create temporary files. By using this symbolic name, the location of temporarily files can be moved to a partition that has sufficient space (say /ubos/tmp vs /tmp) without impacting Apps.

Example: /ubos/tmp

${hostname}

Name of the current host as returned by the OS. This is often different from ${site.hostname}, which is a virtual host name for a Site.

Example: host-1-2-3-4.example.org

${installable.accessoryinfo.appid}

Only exists for Accessories, not for Apps. The value of the accessoryinfo / appid provided in the Accessory’s UBOS Manifest to identify the App for which this is an Accessory.

Example: wordpress

${installable.accessoryinfo.accessoryid}

Only exists for Accessories, not for Apps. The value of the accessoryinfo / accessoryid provided in the Accessory’s UBOS Manifest to identify the name of the Accessory from the perspective of the App, which may or may not be the same as the package name of the Accessory in UBOS.

Example: p2

${installable.accessoryinfo.accessorytype}

Only exists for Accessories, not for Apps. The value of the accessoryinfo / accessorytype provided in the Accessory’s UBOS Manifest to identify the type of Accessory from the perspective of the App.

Example: theme

${installable.customizationpoints.foo.filename}

Name of a file that contains the value of customization point foo for the App or Accessory in this AppConfiguration, as determined from the UBOS Manifest file and the Site JSON file.

Example: /ubos/lib/ubos/appconfigpars/a12345678901234567890/mypackage/foo

${installable.customizationpoints.foo.value}

The value of customization point foo for the App or Accessory in this AppConfiguration, as determined from the UBOS Manifest file and the Site JSON file.

Example: My daily musings

${now.tstamp}

Timestamp when the current deployment or undeployment run started, in a human-readable, but consistently sortable string. Uses UTC time zone.

Example: 20140923-202018

${now.unixtime}

Timestamp when the current deployment or undeployment run started, in UNIX timestamp format.

Example: 1411503618

${package.codedir}

Directory in which the package’s code should be installed. No trailing slash.

Example: /ubos/share/wordpress

${package.name}

Name of the package currently being installed.

Example: wordpress

${site.admin.credential}

Password for the Site’s administrator account.

Example: s3cr3t

${site.admin.email}

E-mail address of the Site’s administrator.

Example: foo@bar.com

${site.admin.userid}

Identifier of the Site’s administrator account. This identifier does not contain spaces or special characters.

Example: admin

${site.admin.username}

Human-readable name of the Site’s administrator account.

Example: Site administrator (John Smith)

${site.apache2.authgroupfile}

The groups file for HTTP authentication for this Site.

Example: /etc/httpd/ubos/sites/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62.groups

${site.apache2.htdigestauthuserfile}

The digest-based user file for HTTP authentication for this Site.

Example: /etc/httpd/ubos/sites/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62.htdigest

${site.hostname}

The virtual hostname of the Site to which this AppConfiguration belongs. This is often different from ${hostname}, which is the current host as returned by the OS.

This variable will have value * for Sites whose hostname was given as the Wildcard hostname.

Example: ubosbox.example.org

${site.hostnameorlocalhost}

Same as ${site.hostname} except that in case of a wildcard site, the value will be localhost.

${site.hostnameorwildcard}

Same as ${site.hostname} except that in case of a wildcard site, the value will be __wildcard.

${site.hostnameorsystemhostname}

Same as ${site.hostname} except that in case of a wildcard site, the value will be the system hostname as returned by hostname.

${site.protocol}

The protocol by which this Site is accessed. Valid values are http and https.

Example: http

${site.protocolport}

The port that goes with the protocol by which this Site is accessed. Valid values are 80 and 443.

Example: 80

${site.siteid}

The Site identifier of this Site per the Site JSON file.

Example: s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62

${site.tomcat8.contextdir}

The Tomcat context directory for this Site. No trailing slash.

Example: /etc/tomcat8/Catalina/ubos.example.org

${tomcat8.gname}

Name of the Linux group used for running the Tomcat application server. This is convenient for setting ownership of files.

Example: tomcat8

${tomcat8.uname}

Name of the Linux user account used for running the Tomcat application server. This is convenient for setting ownership of files.

Example: tomcat8

Other variables

While these symbolic names are defined, their use by developers is not usually required and thus discouraged.

${apache2.appconfigfragmentdir}

Directory that contains Apache configuration file fragments, one per app configuration. You may want to use ${appconfig.apache2.appconfigfragmentfile} instead.

Example: /etc/httpd/ubos/appconfigs

${apache2.sitefragmentdir}

Directory that contains Apache configuration file fragments, one per Site (aka virtual host). You may want to use ${site.apache2.sitefragmentfile} instead.

Example: /etc/httpd/ubos/sites

${apache2.sitesdir}

Directory that contains the Apache DocumentRoots of the various Sites installed on the host. You may want to use ${site.apache2.sitedocumentdir} or ${appconfig.apache2.dir} instead.

Example: /ubos/http/sites

${apache2.ssldir}

Directory that contains SSL information.

Example: /etc/httpd/ubos/ssl

${package.datadir}

Directory in which the package can store data. No trailing slash. You may want to use ${appconfig.datadir} instead.

Example: /ubos/lib/wordpress

${package.manifestdir}

Directory in which packages write their manifests. No trailing slash. You should not need to use this.

Value: /ubos/lib/ubos/manifests

${site.apache2.sitedocumentdir}

The Apache DocumentRoot for this Site. No trailing slash.

Example: /ubos/http/sites/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62

${site.apache2.sitefragmentfile}

The Apache configuration file fragment for this Site. No trailing slash. You should not have to use this.

Example: /etc/httpd/ubos/sites/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62.conf

${site.tomcat8.sitedocumentdir}

The Tomcat DocumentRoot for this Site. No trailing slash.

Example: /ubos/lib/tomcat8/sites/s753ca4a344f56c38aad05172dee6a53f6647af62

${tomcat8.sitesdir}

Directory that contains the Tomcat DocumentRoots of the various Sites installed on the host. You may want to use ${site.tomcat8.sitedocumentdir} instead.

Example: /ubos/lib/tomcat8/sites