Global TYPO3 configuration options

The following configuration options are accessible and changeable via the Install Tool (recommended way) or directly in the file typo3conf/LocalConfiguration.php. The list below is in alphabetical order - not in the order of importance (all are relevant but the usage depends on your specific site and requirements).

displayErrors

This configuration option controls whether PHP errors should be displayed or not (information disclosure). Possible values are: -1, 0, 1 (integer) with the following meaning:

-1
This overrides the PHP setting display_errors. If devIPmask matches the user's IP address the configured debugExceptionHandler is used for exceptions, if not, productionExceptionHandler will be used. This is the default setting.
0
This suppresses any PHP error messages, overrides the value of exceptionalErrors and sets it to 0 (no errors are turned into exceptions), the configured productionExceptionHandler is used as exception handler.
1
This shows PHP error messages with the registered error handler. The configured debugExceptionHandler is used as exception handler.

The PHP variable reads: $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['SYS']['displayErrors']

devIPmask

The option devIPmask defines a comma-separated list of IP addresses which will allow development output to display (information disclosure). The debug() function will use this as a filter. Setting this to a blank value will deny all (recommended for a production site). Setting this to * will show debug messages to every client without any restriction (definitely not recommended). The default value is 127.0.0.1,::1 which means "localhost" only.

The PHP variable reads: $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['SYS']['devIPmask']`

fileDenyPattern

The fileDenyPattern is a Perl-compatible regular expression that (if it matches a file name) will prevent TYPO3 from accessing or processing this file (deny uploading, renaming, etc). For security reasons, PHP files as well as Apache's .htaccess file should be included in this regular expression string. The default value is: \\.(php[3-8]?|phpsh|phtml|pht|phar|shtml|cgi)(\\..*)?$|\\.pl$|^\\.htaccess$, initially defined in constant \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Resource\Security\FileNameValidator::FILE_DENY_PATTERN_DEFAULT.

There are only a very few scenarios imaginable where it makes sense to allow access to those files. In most cases backend users such as editors must not have the option to upload/edit PHP files or other files which could harm the TYPO3 instance when misused. Even if you trust your backend users, keep in mind that a less restrictive fileDenyPattern would enable an attacker to compromise the system if it only gained access to the TYPO3 backend with a normal, unprivileged user account.

The PHP variable reads: $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['fileDenyPattern']

IPmaskList

Some TYPO3 instances are maintained by a selected group of integrators and editors who only work from a specific IP range or (in an ideal world) from a specific IP address only. This could be, for example, an office network with a static public IP address. In this case, or in any case where the client's IP addresses are predictable, the IPmaskList configuration may be used to limit the access to the TYPO3 backend.

The string configured as IPmaskList is a comma-separated list of IP addresses which are allowed to access the backend. The use of wildcards is also possible to specify a network. The following example opens the backend for users with the IP address 123.45.67.89 and from the network 192.168.xxx.xxx:

typo3conf/AdditionalConfiguration.php
$GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['IPmaskList'] = 123.45.67.89,192.168.*.*
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The default value is an empty string.

lockIP / lockIPv6

If a frontend or backend user logs into TYPO3, the user's session can be locked to its IP address. The lockIP configuration for IPv4 and lockIPv6 for IPv6 control how many parts of the IP address have to match with the IP address used at authentication time.

Possible values for IPv4 are: 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 (integer) with the following meaning:

0
Disable IP locking entirely.
1
Only the first part of the IPv4 address needs to match, e.g. 123.xxx.xxx.xxx.
2
Only the first and second part of the IPv4 address need to match, e.g. 123.45.xxx.xxx.
3
Only the first, second and third part of the IPv4 address need to match, e.g. 123.45.67.xxx.
4
The complete IPv4 address has to match (e.g. 123.45.67.89).

Possible values for IPv6 are: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (integer) with the following meaning:

0
Disable IP locking entirely.
1
Only the first block (16 bits) of the IPv6 address needs to match, e.g. 2001:
2
The first two blocks (32 bits) of the IPv6 address need to match, e.g. 2001:0db8.
3
The first three blocks (48 bits) of the IPv6 address need to match, e.g. 2001:0db8:85a3
4
The first four blocks (64 bits) of the IPv6 address need to match, e.g. 2001:0db8:85a3:08d3
5
The first five blocks (80 bits) of the IPv6 address need to match, e.g. 2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319
6
The first six blocks (96 bits) of the IPv6 address need to match, e.g. 2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e
7
The first seven blocks (112 bits) of the IPv6 address need to match, e.g. 2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370
8
The full IPv6 address has to match, e.g. 2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370:7344

If your users experience that their sessions sometimes drop out, it might be because of a changing IP address (this may happen with dynamic proxy servers for example) and adjusting this setting could address this issue. The downside of using a lower value than the default is a decreased level of security.

Keep in mind that the lockIP and lockIPv6 configurations are available for frontend (['FE']['lockIP'] and ['FE']['lockIPv6']) and backend (['BE']['lockIP'] and ['BE']['lockIPv6']) sessions separately, so four PHP variables are available:

  • $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['FE']['lockIP']
  • $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['FE']['lockIPv6']
  • $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['lockIP']
  • $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['lockIPv6']

lockSSL

As described in encrypted client/server communication, the use of https:// scheme for the backend and frontend of TYPO3 drastically improves the security. The lockSSL configuration controls if the backend can only be operated from an SSL-encrypted connection (HTTPS). Possible values are: true, false (boolean) with the following meaning:

  • false: The backend is not forced to SSL locking at all (default value)
  • true: The backend requires a secure connection HTTPS.

The PHP variable reads: $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['lockSSL']

trustedHostsPattern

TYPO3 uses the HTTP header Host: to generate absolute URLs in several places such as 404 handling, http(s) enforcement, password reset links and many more. Since the host header itself is provided by the client, it can be forged to any value, even in a name-based virtual hosts environment.

The trustedHostsPattern configuration option can contain either the value SERVER_NAME or a regular expression pattern that matches all host names that are considered trustworthy for the particular TYPO3 installation. SERVER_NAME is the default value and with this option value in effect, TYPO3 checks the currently submitted host header against the SERVER_NAME variable. Please see security bulletin TYPO3-CORE-SA-2014-001 for further details about specific setups.

If the Host: header also contains a non-standard port, the configuration must include this value, too. This is especially important for the default value SERVER_NAME as provided ports are checked against SERVER_PORT which fails in some more complex load balancing or SSL termination scenarios.

The PHP variable reads: $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['SYS']['trustedHostsPattern']`

warning_email_addr

The email address defined in warning_email_addr will receive notifications, whenever an attempt to login to the Install Tool is made. TYPO3 will also send a warning whenever more than three failed backend login attempts (regardless of the user) are detected within one hour.

The default value is an empty string.

The PHP variable reads: $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['warning_email_addr']

warning_mode

This setting specifies if emails should be send to warning_email_addr upon successful backend user login.

The value in an integer:

0
Do not send notification emails upon backend login (default)
1
Send a notification email every time a backend user logs in
2
Send a notification email every time an admin backend user logs in

The PHP variable reads: $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['warning_mode']