# Run modes

## Rationale

It is often necessary to have slightly different settings between development and production. Run modes provide a way to create two separate sets of settings targeting the two environments.

For a quick introduction, see also this [blog post](https://blog.orbeon.com/2012/05/run-modes.html).

## Configuration

The run mode is configured in the web application's web.xml file:

```markup
<context-param>
    <param-name>oxf.run-mode</param-name>
    <param-value>prod</param-value>
</context-param>
```

There are two possible modes:

* `prod`: production
* `dev`: development

By default, when you download Orbeon Forms, the mode is set to `prod`, the safest mode.

*NOTE: If you build Orbeon Forms from source and run it from the exploded `orbeon-war`, the default is set to `dev`.*

Orbeon Forms logs the mode used when starting the web app, for example:

```
Using run mode: prod
Using properties file: oxf:/config/properties-prod.xml
```

## Impact of the modes

Selecting a particular mode selects different properties files. By default, the following properties are different in prod vs. dev mode:

* `oxf.http.exceptions`
  * `prod`: `false`
  * `dev`: `true`
* `location-mode` for `oxf:builtin-saxon` and `oxf:unsafe-builtin-saxon`
  * `prod`: `none`
  * `dev`: `smart`
* `oxf.xforms.minimal-resources`
  * `prod`: `true`
  * `dev`: `false`
* `oxf.xforms.combine-resources`
  * `prod`: `true`
  * `dev`: `false`
* `oxf.xforms.resources.encode-version`
  * `prod`: `true`
  * `dev`: `false`
* `oxf.xforms.show-recoverable-errors`
  * `prod`: `0`
  * `dev`: `10`
* `oxf.show-version` \[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.6.1]
  * `prod`: `false`
  * `dev`: `true`
* `oxf.fr.version.*.*` \[UNTIL Orbeon Forms 4.6]
  * `prod`: `false`
  * `dev`: `true`

In addition, depending on the mode, the following local file is used:

* `prod`: `properties-local-prod.xml`
* `dev`: `properties-local-dev.xml`

## See also

* [Configuration Properties](/configuration/properties.md)
* Blog post: [Run modes](https://blog.orbeon.com/2012/05/run-modes.html)


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