Environment Variables & CLI Reference

CLI parameters, configuration priority, and data directory structure for PxeLab.

Related: Config File Reference | Deployment

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CLI Parameters

pxelab [flags]

Flags:
  --config string       Config file path
  --data-dir string     Data directory (default "~/.pxelab")
  --log-level string    Log level: debug/info/warn/error (default "info")
  --mode string         Run mode ("app" auto-opens browser)

--data-dir and --log-level override the global.data_dir and log.level config items.

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Configuration Priority

CLI parameters > Config file > Default values

Priority	Source	Description
1 (Highest)	--config / --data-dir / --log-level CLI parameters	Explicitly specified on command line
2	config.yaml	Config file (path from --config, otherwise searched in order)
3 (Lowest)	Built-in defaults	Hardcoded default values

Note: PxeLab does not read any PXELAB_* environment variables. All settings are managed via CLI parameters and the config file. The default data directory is only affected by the system user home directory ($HOME / Windows USERPROFILE).

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Data Directory Structure

The default data directory is ~/.pxelab/ (changeable via --data-dir or global.data_dir):

~/.pxelab/
├── config.yaml          # Config file (settings are written back here on save)
├── pxelab.db            # SQLite database
├── boot/                # Boot file root (iPXE, PXELinux, GRUB2 binaries)
│   ├── isos/            # Extracted OS images (HTTP /boot/isos/*, default NFS export)
│   ├── ipxe.efi
│   ├── undionly.kpxe
│   └── ...
├── isos/                # OS image upload storage
│   └── mnt/             # Image mount directory (isos/mnt/<id>)
├── netboot/             # Netboot catalog
│   ├── catalog/         # Distro index
│   ├── menu/            # Generated boot menus
│   └── scripts/         # Distro scripts
├── cache/
│   └── netboot/         # Catalog file cache
└── logs/                # Log files (default data_dir/logs/pxelab.log)
    └── pxelab.log