# Directory for configuration files

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [March 27, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696 "2010-03-27T16:42:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Automate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Automate](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Automate)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696/1 "2010-03-27T16:42:59Z")

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For Windows, in which directory/directories does Ignition store user configuration files (gateway config, projects, images, etc)?  
Is it possible to change the drive letter/directory they are stored in?

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**Author:** ![nathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nathan](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/nathan)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696/2 "2010-03-28T04:11:03Z")

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All those config files are stored in the “internal database” under Inductive Automation\Ignition\contexts\main\db. You get a complete backup of all that user data by doing a backup from the config web page.

The Windows installer puts Ignition under the %programfiles%, path, under “\Inductive Automation\Ignition”. You don’t have a path choice with the installer.

You can, however, download the latest Windows Zip Build (instead of the installer). Extract Ignition to what ever drive/path you’d like. You can then use the “install-ignition.bat” and “uninstall-ignition.bat” files. The process more manual, so you’ll want to stop the service prior to upgrading, etc. It’s quick and easy, albeit a little less pretty.

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**Author:** ![Carl.Gould](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/carl.gould/32/7262_2.png) [@Carl.Gould](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Carl.Gould)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696/3 "2010-03-29T16:45:34Z")

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Nathan - you do get a path choice with our installer…

Now, I think you might be asking if you can simply have the user information stored in a separate place from the application installation. Unfortunately, we went through some pains to make this possible in Ignition’s architecture, but then never made it possible for a user to alter. Expect this to change in future versions.

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**Author:** ![nathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nathan](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/nathan)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696/4 "2010-03-30T07:15:34Z")

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I stand corrected about the install path. I ran the installer when Ignition was already installed and wasn’t prompted for the path.

Were you referring to the cache file location for individual runtime clients?

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**Author:** ![Automate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Automate](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Automate)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696/5 "2010-03-31T12:56:49Z")

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Carl’s post answered my question. I can see situations where you have multiple drives with different speeds, redundancy, backup and security plans where you might want your application configuration in a different location than the program install location.

Just for the record what is the default client cache directory and can it be changed?

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**Author:** ![Carl.Gould](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/carl.gould/32/7262_2.png) [@Carl.Gould](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Carl.Gould)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directory-for-configuration-files/1696/6 "2010-03-31T16:16:38Z")

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The client will create its cache under the current user’s home directory in a folder named “.ignition”  
This cannot be changed.