Site Parameters

The config column of the #__sites table is used to store the configuration of the Joomla!™ site, as well as information collected about the site by automation tasks.

In the following document, the dot in key names represents a subkey. For example, the key name foo.bar.baz corresponds to the following JSON document and, in this example, has the string value of something:

{
	"foo": {
		"bar": {
            "baz": "something"
		}
	}
}

The config key

Controls how we connect and interact with this particular site.

config.apiKey

The Joomla! API Token of a Joomla! Super User account.

This is required if the remote site has the “API Authentication - Web Services Joomla Token” and “User - Joomla API Token” plugins enabled.

This is the preferred connection method to a Joomla! site.

❗️IMPORTANT: Either this key, or the config.username and config.password pair, must be defined to be able to connect to the site.

config.username and config.password

The username and password of a Joomla! Super User account.

This is required if the remote site only has the “API Authentication - Web Services Basic Auth” plugin enabled.

This is an insecure connection method and should be avoided. In fact, the “API Authentication - Web Services Basic Auth” plugin should never be enabled.

❗️IMPORTANT: Either this key pair, or the config.apiKey key, must be defined to be able to connect to the site.

config.groups

An array of user group IDs

Joomla Update configuration (config.core_update sub-key)

{
    "config": {
        "core_update" : {
            // What should I do if an update is found? One of:
            // "" (use global), "none", "email", "patch", "minor", "major"
			"install": "",
            // When should the auto-update be scheduled for? One of "immediately", "time"
			"when": "immediately",
            // The time of day to install the auto-update when config.core_update.install = "time"
			"time" : {
                "hour": 0,
                "minute": 0,
            },
			"email": {
                // Email addresses to be CC'ed
                "cc": ""
            },
            // Send an email if the auto-update fails?
			"email_error": true,
            // Send an email if the auto-update succeeds?
			"email_after": true,
        }
    }
}

The core key

Caches the information collected about core Joomla! and the server environment. It looks like this:

{
    // Currently installed Joomla version information
	"current": {
        "version": "4.3.0",
        "stability": "stable"
    },
    // Latest available version information
    "latest": {
		"version": "4.3.1",
		"stability": "stable"
    },
    // PHP version
    "php": "8.1.2",
    // Can this site be upgraded?
    "canUpgrade": true,
    // Sanity check: does the site have the files_joomla pseudo-extension installed?
	"extensionAvailable": true,
    // Sanity check: does the site have the core Joomla update site installed and enabled?
	"updateSiteAvailable": true,
    // How many hours does Joomla! cache the updates for?
	"maxCacheHours": 6,
    // What is the minimum update stability allowed?
	"minimumStability": "stable",
    // When did Joomla! last check for core updates?
	"lastUpdateTimestamp": 1682418579,
    // When was Panopticon's last attempt to fetch this information from Joomla (UNIX timestamp)?
    "lastAttempt": 1683481398,
    // Which version did Panopticon try to automatically install, or notified you about, or skipped over per config?
    "lastAutoUpdateVersion": "4.3.0", 
}

The extensions key

It has three subkeys:

• list A list of installed top-level extensions. This means it does not include core or third party sub-extensions, which are part of another package.
• lastAttempt When was Panopticon's last attempt to fetch this information from Joomla (UNIX timestamp)?
• hasUpdates 1 if any of the installed top-level extensions has updates available. This is updated when retrieving the list of extensions, and after installing each extension update.

Each extension in the list is keyed by its extension ID and contains an object with the following items:

{
	"extension_id": 217,
    // Extension name (human-readable) as reported by Joomla!.
	"name": "file_fof30",
    // Description, human-readable
	"description": "\n\t\t\n\t\tFramework-on-Framework (FOF) 3.x - The rapid application development framework for Joomla!.<br/>\n\t\t<b>WARNING</b>: This is NOT a duplicate of the FOF library already installed with Joomla!. It is a different version used by other extensions on your site. Do NOT uninstall either FOF package. If you do you will break your site.\n\t\t\n\t",
    // Extension type (component, module, plugin, template, package, file, library)
	"type": "file",
	// Plugin folder
	"folder": "",
	// Extension element (depends on extension type)
	"element": "file_fof30",
    // Joomla Application ID
	"client_id": 0,
    // Extension author
	"author": "Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos / Akeeba Ltd",
	// Extension author's URL
	"authorUrl": "https://www.akeebabackup.com",
	// Extension author's email address
	"authorEmail": "[email protected]",
    // Is the extension locked (core)?
	"locked": 0,
    // Is the extension protected?
	"protected": 0,
    // Is the extension published?
	"enabled": 1,
    // Version information
	"version": {
        // Currently installed
		"current": "revB061E1B9",
        // Latest available, if different
		"new": null,
	},
	// Extension type, human-readable
	"type_s": "File",
	// Application side, human-readable
	"client_s": "Site",
    // Plugin folder, human-readable
	"folder_s": "N/A",
    // Download Key information
	"downloadkey": {
        // Is a key required?
		"supported": false,
        // Is there a valid key present?
		"valid": false,
	},
    // Does the extension have any associated update sites?
	"hasUpdateSites": false,
    // The IDs of the update sites for this extension. Most extensions will only have one update site.
	"updatesites": [1, 2, 3, 4]
}