NAME

       elektra-bootstrapping - default backend

       One important aspect of a configuration library is the out-of-the-box experience. How does
       the system work before anything is configured? The optimal situation  is  that  everything
       works  fully, and applications, that just want to load and store configuration, do not see
       any difference in a well-configured, fine-tuned system.

       To support that experience, a so-called default backend is responsible in  the  case  that
       nothing  was  configured so far. It must have a storage that is able to store full Elektra
       semantics including every type  and  arbitrary  metadata.  To  avoid  reimplementation  of
       storage  plugins, for default storage plugins a resolver plugin additionally takes care of
       the inevitable portability issues.

       The  default  backend  is  guaranteed  to  stay  mounted  at  system/elektra   where   the
       configuration for Elektra itself is stored. After mounting all backends, Elektra checks if
       system/elektra still resides at the default backend. If not, it will be mounted there.

       To summarise, this approach delivers a good out-of-the-box experience capable  of  storing
       configuration.  For  special use cases, applications and administrators can mount specific
       backends  anywhere  except  at,  and  below,  system/elektra.  On  kdbOpen(),  the  system
       bootstraps itself starting with the default backend.

       The  default backend consists of a default storage plugin and default resolver plugin. The
       default resolver has no specific requirements, but the default storage plugin must be able
       to  handle  full  Elektra semantics. The backend is not mounted anywhere in particular, so
       any keys can be stored in it. The implementation of the  core  guarantees  that  user  and
       system keys always stay separated.

                                          November 2015                  ELEKTRA-BOOTSTRAPPING(7)