1. What is Drupal Configuration Management and why is it important?

• Drupal Configuration Management involves exporting site configuration settings into YAML files, capturing the site’s structure and functionality in the codebase repository. This allows for easier deployment, version control, and efficient synchronization of configurations across different environments.

2. What are the prerequisites for utilizing Configuration Management in Drupal?

• To use Configuration Management in Drupal, you need:
  • Drupal Districution
  • Git: Basic knowledge of the Git command line interface and a site repository on a Git platform like GitHub.

3. What is the general workflow for managing configuration changes using Configuration Management?

• The general workflow includes syncing production configs with your repository, making changes in your local environment, testing those changes in a remote development environment, and finally applying the changes to the production environment.

4. How do I set up my local environment to work with Configuration Management?

• Setting up your local environment involves modifying the settings.php file and creating a settings.site.php file in your site repository. This configuration enables synchronization with the production environment.

5. What steps are involved when working with Local Development in the Configuration Management workflow?

• The steps include syncing configs with production, making changes in the local environment, exporting and committing the changes to the site repository, and applying these changes to a remote development environment for testing.

6. How do I apply the configurations to the production environment in the Configuration Management workflow?

• Once you have confirmed the changes in the remote development environment, you merge the development configs with the production configs using Git. After merging, you push the changes to the production branch, and then import the configurations in the production site.

7. How do I handle configuration changes in a production environment in Configuration Management?

• It is recommended to avoid making configuration changes directly in the production environment. Instead, changes should be exported from a local or remote development environment and then applied to production.

8. How can I avoid conflicts when pulling config changes from a remote repository in Configuration Management?

• Always export local configuration changes before pulling from a remote repository and immediately import configuration changes after pulling. Pay attention to changes during import or export to prevent overwriting your local configurations inadvertently.

9. How do Drupal Core and module updates affect Configuration Management?

• Drupal Core and module updates can change configuration schemas, potentially causing conflicts. It’s important to be aware of updates and ensure that the configuration files in the repository match the updated schema to prevent errors.

10. What are some general tips and common pitfalls to avoid when using Configuration Management?

• Tips include avoiding production config changes, being cautious during imports and exports, and paying attention to configuration changes. Common pitfalls include accidentally overwriting changes and neglecting schema updates during module updates.

11. How do I export configurations from the Development site using Drush?

• To export configurations from the Development site, run the command: drush config:export. For older versions of Drush, you can use drush config-export. The alias drush cex can also be used for convenience, and it will work on all Drush versions.

12. How can I copy the content of the Development sync folder to the Live site’s sync folder?

• You can copy the content using tools like rsync, Git, FTP, or SCP. For instance, with rsync, you can use the command: rsync -avz path/to/development/sync/ path/to/live/sync/.

13. How do I import configurations to the Live site using Drush?

• To import configurations to the Live site, run the command: drush config:import. If you’re using older versions of Drush, you can use drush config-import. Alternatively, you can use the alias drush cim. Drush will display the available configuration changes and prompt you to confirm the import.

14. How can I differentiate the site name on the Development site from the Live site using Drush?

• In the Development site, you can change the site name by navigating to admin/config/system/site-information and modifying the site name accordingly using the Drupal UI.

15. How do I change the storage location of the sync directory for configuration in Drupal?

• To change the storage location of the sync directory, you can set the config_sync_directory variable in your settings.php file. For example:
  php $settings['config_sync_directory'] = 'sites/example.com/config/sync';

16. How can I exclude development modules from configuration management using Drush?

• You can exclude development modules from configuration management by configuring the synchronization settings appropriately in your settings.php file. For instance:
  php $config['config_exclude_modules'] = ['devel', 'stage_file_proxy'];

17. How do I keep my Local and Remote sites synchronized in a Drupal environment using Drush?

• To keep Local and Remote sites synchronized, follow the export and import workflow using Drush as outlined in the previous questions (11-13) to ensure configurations are synced between the environments.

18. What’s the recommended way to install a fresh site from existing configuration in Drupal?

• The recommended way is to install a new site with the configuration exported using the command: drush site:install --existing-config. This allows for a fresh site installation based on existing configurations.

19. How do I run a configuration import or export with Drush for Drupal versions before 9?

• For Drupal versions before 9, you can use drush config-import to import configurations and drush config-export to export configurations. The alias drush cim can be used for import, and drush cex for export as well.