Support configuration files that are external to the application installation. Fixes #5235

docs/en_US/code_overview.rst

@@ -29,9 +29,10 @@ Configuration
 
 The core application configuration is found in **config.py**. This file includes
 all configurable settings for the application, along with descriptions of their
-use. It is essential that various settings are configured prior to deployent on
+use. It is essential that various settings are configured prior to deployment on
-a web server; these can be overriden in **config_local.py** to avoid modifying
+a web server; these can be overridden in **config_local.py** or
-the main configuration file.
+**config_system.py** (see the :ref:`config.py <config_py>` documentation) to
+avoid modifying the main configuration file.
 
 User Settings
 =============
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ PgAdminModule class. This is responsible for providing hook points to integrate
 the module into the rest of the application - for example, a hook might tell
 the caller what CSS files need to be included on the rendered page, or what menu
 options to include and what they should do. Hook points need not exist if they
-are not required. It is the responsiblity of the caller to ensure they are
+are not required. It is the responsibility of the caller to ensure they are
 present before attempting to utilise them.
 
 Hooks currently implemented are:
@@ -210,6 +211,6 @@ bootstrap for UI look and feel, Backbone for data manipulation of a node,
 Backform for generating properties/create dialog for selected node. We have
 divided each module in small chunks as much as possible. Not all javascript
 modules are required to be loaded (i.e. loading a javascript module for
-database will make sense only when a server node is loaded competely.) Please
+database will make sense only when a server node is loaded completely.) Please
 look at the the javascript files node.js, browser.js, menu.js, panel.js, etc for
 better understanding of the code.

docs/en_US/config_py.rst

@@ -23,10 +23,21 @@ are as follows:
   and may be created by users in the same directory as ``config.py`` if
   needed.
 
-.. note:: If the SERVER_MODE setting is changed in ``config_distro.py`` or ``config_local.py``,
+* ``config_system.py``: This file is read after ``config_local.py`` and is
-     you will most likely need to re-set the LOG_FILE, SQLITE_PATH, SESSION_DB_PATH
+  intended for system administrators to include settings that are configured
-     and STORAGE_DIR values as well as they will have been set based on the default
+  system-wide from a secure location that users cannot normally modify and that
-     configuration or overridden by the runtime.
+  is outside of the pgAdmin installation. The location for this file varies
+  based on the platform, and only needs to be created if desired:
+
+  * Linux: ``/etc/pgadmin/config_system.py``
+  * macOS: ``/Library/Preferences/pgadmin/config_system.py``
+  * Windows: ``%CommonProgramFiles%\pgadmin\config_system.py``
+
+.. note:: If the SERVER_MODE setting is changed in ``config_distro.py``,
+     ``config_local.py``, or ``config_system.py`` you will most likely need to
+     re-set the LOG_FILE, SQLITE_PATH, SESSION_DB_PATH and STORAGE_DIR values
+     as well as they will have been set based on the default configuration or
+     overridden by the runtime.
 
 The default ``config.py`` file is shown below for reference:
 

docs/en_US/enabling_ldap_authentication.rst

@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@
 **************************************************
 
 To enable LDAP authentication for pgAdmin, you must configure the LDAP
-settings in the *config_local.py* or *config_distro.py* file on the system where
+settings in the *config_local.py* or *config_system.py* file (see the
-pgAdmin is installed in Server mode. You can copy these settings from *config.py*
+:ref:`config.py <config_py>` documentation) on the system where pgAdmin is
-file and modify the values for the following parameters:
+installed in Server mode. You can copy these settings from *config.py* file
+and modify the values for the following parameters:
 
 .. csv-table::
    :header: "**Parameter**", "**Description**"
@@ -21,9 +22,12 @@ file and modify the values for the following parameters:
    * [‘ldap’]: pgAdmin will use only LDAP authentication.
 
    * [‘ldap’, ‘internal’]: pgAdmin will first try to authenticate the user through
-     LDAP. If that authentication fails, then internal user entries of pgAdmin will be used for authentication.
+     LDAP. If that authentication fails, then internal user entries of pgAdmin
+     will be used for authentication.
 
-   * [‘internal’, ‘ldap’]: pgAdmin will first try to authenticate the user through internal user entries. If that authentication fails, then LDAP authentication will be used."
+   * [‘internal’, ‘ldap’]: pgAdmin will first try to authenticate the user
+     through internal user entries. If that authentication fails, then LDAP
+     authentication will be used."
    "LDAP_AUTO_CREATE_USER", "Specifies if you want to automatically create a pgAdmin
    user corresponding to the LDAP user credentials. Please note that LDAP password
    is not stored in the pgAdmin database."

docs/en_US/query_tool.rst

@@ -286,8 +286,10 @@ the *Clear* drop-down menu.
 Query History is maintained across sessions for each database on a per-user
 basis when running in Query Tool mode. In View/Edit Data mode, history is not
 retained. By default, the last 20 queries are stored for each database. This
-can be adjusted in `config_local.py` by overriding the `MAX_QUERY_HIST_STORED`
+can be adjusted in ``config_local.py`` or ``config_system.py`` (see the
-value. See the :ref:`Deployment <deployment>` section for more information.
+:ref:`config.py <config_py>` documentation) by overriding the
+`MAX_QUERY_HIST_STORED` value. See the :ref:`Deployment <deployment>` section
+for more information.
 
 Connection Status
 *****************

docs/en_US/release_notes_4_24.rst

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ This release contains a number of bug fixes and new features since the release o
 New features
 ************
 
+| `Issue #5235 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/5235>`_ -  Support configuration files that are external to the application installation.
 | `Issue #5484 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/5484>`_ -  Added support for LDAP authentication with different DN by setting the dedicated user for the LDAP connection.
 | `Issue #5583 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/5583>`_ -  Added support for schema level restriction.
 | `Issue #5601 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/5601>`_ -  Added RLS Policy support in Schema Diff.

web/config.py

@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import logging
 import os
 import sys
 
-
 # We need to include the root directory in sys.path to ensure that we can
 # find everything we need when running in the standalone runtime.
 root = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
@@ -572,7 +571,23 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-# Override DEFAULT_SERVE value from environment variable.
+# Load system config overrides. We do this last, so that the sysadmin can
+# override anything they want from a config file that's in a protected system
+# directory and away from pgAdmin to avoid invalidating signatures.
+system_config_dir = '/etc/pgadmin'
+if sys.platform.startswith('win32'):
+    system_config_dir = os.environ['CommonProgramFiles'] + '/pgadmin'
+elif sys.platform.startswith('darwin'):
+    system_config_dir = '/Library/Preferences/pgadmin'
+
+if os.path.exists(system_config_dir + '/config_system.py'):
+    try:
+        sys.path.insert(0, system_config_dir)
+        from config_system import *
+    except ImportError:
+        pass
+
+# Override DEFAULT_SERVER value from environment variable.
 if 'PGADMIN_CONFIG_DEFAULT_SERVER' in os.environ:
     DEFAULT_SERVER = os.environ['PGADMIN_CONFIG_DEFAULT_SERVER']