Allow configuration of piwik plugin using a configuration file

[arturo-seijas]

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The default configuration options for piwik can not be overwritten by adding an entry in the configuration file indico.conf unlike the customizable settings for Indico.

I think it would be a nice to have, since it will allow having this configuration defined as code . The only working approach at this time is to set them manually through the UI.

[ThiefMaster]

This doesn't really fit well together in the schema of settings that are managed via the UI: They are all stored in the database and have UI where the user can change them, so reading them from a config file (or env vars) would be a bit strange - they'd either need to always override the DB settings or somehow be imported into the DB (and updated if they change at a later time).

Not sure that's a good solution for this tbh...

[arturo-seijas]

How about the timezone, for instance. That's the approach I had in mind when I opened the ticket. Right now it's an UI setting but can also be defined with the DEFAULT_TIMEZONE environmental variable and hence, on a configuration file. Another example would be the S3 plugin, that can also be configured using this approach.

With this change we could leverage the configuration as code advantages also for this plugin.

[ThiefMaster]

DEFAULT_TIMEZONE cannot be fully overridden in the UI; you can only set a different time zone for specific categories or events..

[arturo-seijas]

How about disabling UI edition if the config option is specified using an environmental variable? I've seen this approach around and that would clearly establish priorities.

[ThiefMaster]

So I was thinking about this, and introducing individual env vars seems like a bit of a mess (especially considering data types - settings are stored as JSON after all!).

So my suggestion (ideally for you to contribute) would be to add an indico.conf setting SETTINGS_OVERRIDE that can be set to a dict like this:

SETTINGS_OVERRIDE = {
    'plugin_piwik': {
        'server_api_url': 'https://example.com'
    }
}

In the get_all_settings and get_setting util you then add code that takes this config setting into account and instead of getting the value from the DB, the one from the override will be used.

The documentation for this setting would clearly mention that it's an advanced feature and module/setting names need to be looked up in the code if someone wants to use it.

As a bonus, the plugin settings form rendered from RHPluginDetails could disable the form fields for any setting locked like this so an admin doesn't try to change it via the web UI.

[arturo-seijas]

That's sounds like a nice solution for what we're looking for :)

[ThiefMaster]

Just to avoid any misunderstanding and both sides waiting for the other to add it: Are you willing to contribute this? It should be pretty straightforward and while the two utils I mentioned in my last comment don't have their own unit tests, the SettingsProxy-related tests should probably cover it well enough.

[arturo-seijas]

We should be able to work on this at some point, probably in a couple of weeks. Does that sound good to you?

[ThiefMaster]

Sure! Sounds like something for 3.2.1 or 3.2.2 then ;)