In the rare event that your application needs to run some code before Rails itself is loaded, put it above the call to `require 'rails/all'` in `config/application.rb`.
In general, the work of configuring Rails means configuring the components of Rails, as well as configuring Rails itself. The configuration file `config/application.rb` and environment-specific configuration files (such as `config/environments/production.rb`) allow you to specify the various settings that you want to pass down to all of the components.
This is a setting for Rails itself. If you want to pass settings to individual Rails components, you can do so via the same `config` object in `config/application.rb`:
*`config.after_initialize` takes a block which will be run _after_ Rails has finished initializing the application. That includes the initialization of the framework itself, engines, and all the application's initializers in `config/initializers`. Note that this block _will_ be run for rake tasks. Useful for configuring values set up by other initializers:
*`config.asset_host` sets the host for the assets. Useful when CDNs are used for hosting assets, or when you want to work around the concurrency constraints builtin in browsers using different domain aliases. Shorter version of `config.action_controller.asset_host`.
*`config.autoload_once_paths` accepts an array of paths from which Rails will autoload constants that won't be wiped per request. Relevant if `config.cache_classes` is false, which is the case in development mode by default. Otherwise, all autoloading happens only once. All elements of this array must also be in `autoload_paths`. Default is an empty array.
*`config.cache_classes` controls whether or not application classes and modules should be reloaded on each request. Defaults to false in development mode, and true in test and production modes. Can also be enabled with `threadsafe!`.
*`config.action_view.cache_template_loading` controls whether or not templates should be reloaded on each request. Defaults to whatever is set for `config.cache_classes`.
*`config.cache_store` configures which cache store to use for Rails caching. Options include one of the symbols `:memory_store`, `:file_store`, `:mem_cache_store`, `:null_store`, or an object that implements the cache API. Defaults to `:file_store` if the directory `tmp/cache` exists, and to `:memory_store` otherwise.
*`config.consider_all_requests_local` is a flag. If true then any error will cause detailed debugging information to be dumped in the HTTP response, and the `Rails::Info` controller will show the application runtime context in `/rails/info/properties`. True by default in development and test environments, and false in production mode. For finer-grained control, set this to false and implement `local_request?` in controllers to specify which requests should provide debugging information on errors.
*`config.dependency_loading` is a flag that allows you to disable constant autoloading setting it to false. It only has effect if `config.cache_classes` is true, which it is by default in production mode. This flag is set to false by `config.threadsafe!`.
*`config.eager_load` when true, eager loads all registered `config.eager_load_namespaces`. This includes your application, engines, Rails frameworks and any other registered namespace.
*`config.eager_load_namespaces` registers namespaces that are eager loaded when `config.eager_load` is true. All namespaces in the list must respond to the `eager_load!` method.
*`config.eager_load_paths` accepts an array of paths from which Rails will eager load on boot if cache classes is enabled. Defaults to every folder in the `app` directory of the application.
*`config.exceptions_app` sets the exceptions application invoked by the ShowException middleware when an exception happens. Defaults to `ActionDispatch::PublicExceptions.new(Rails.public_path)`.
*`config.file_watcher` the class used to detect file updates in the filesystem when `config.reload_classes_only_on_change` is true. Must conform to `ActiveSupport::FileUpdateChecker` API.
*`config.filter_parameters` used for filtering out the parameters that
you don't want shown in the logs, such as passwords or credit card
numbers. New applications filter out passwords by adding the following `config.filter_parameters+=[:password]` in `config/initializers/filter_parameter_logging.rb`.
*`config.log_formatter` defines the formatter of the Rails logger. This option defaults to an instance of `ActiveSupport::Logger::SimpleFormatter` for all modes except production, where it defaults to `Logger::Formatter`.
*`config.log_level` defines the verbosity of the Rails logger. This option defaults to `:debug` for all modes except production, where it defaults to `:info`.
*`config.log_tags` accepts a list of methods that respond to `request` object. This makes it easy to tag log lines with debug information like subdomain and request id - both very helpful in debugging multi-user production applications.
*`config.logger` accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby `Logger` class. Defaults to an instance of `ActiveSupport::Logger`, with auto flushing off in production mode.
*`config.middleware` allows you to configure the application's middleware. This is covered in depth in the [Configuring Middleware](#configuring-middleware) section below.
*`config.reload_classes_only_on_change` enables or disables reloading of classes only when tracked files change. By default tracks everything on autoload paths and is set to true. If `config.cache_classes` is true, this option is ignored.
*`config.secret_key_base` used for specifying a key which allows sessions for the application to be verified against a known secure key to prevent tampering. Applications get `config.secret_key_base` initialized to a random key in `config/initializers/secret_token.rb`.
*`config.serve_static_assets` configures Rails itself to serve static assets. Defaults to true, but in the production environment is turned off as the server software (e.g. Nginx or Apache) used to run the application should serve static assets instead. Unlike the default setting set this to true when running (absolutely not recommended!) or testing your app in production mode using WEBrick. Otherwise you won't be able use page caching and requests for files that exist regularly under the public directory will anyway hit your Rails app.
*`config.session_store` is usually set up in `config/initializers/session_store.rb` and specifies what class to use to store the session. Possible values are `:cookie_store` which is the default, `:mem_cache_store`, and `:disabled`. The last one tells Rails not to deal with sessions. Custom session stores can also be specified:
*`config.assets.css_compressor` defines the CSS compressor to use. It is set by default by `sass-rails`. The unique alternative value at the moment is `:yui`, which uses the `yui-compressor` gem.
*`config.assets.js_compressor` defines the JavaScript compressor to use. Possible values are `:closure`, `:uglifier` and `:yui` which require the use of the `closure-compiler`, `uglifier` or `yui-compressor` gems respectively.
*`config.assets.paths` contains the paths which are used to look for assets. Appending paths to this configuration option will cause those paths to be used in the search for assets.
*`config.assets.precompile` allows you to specify additional assets (other than `application.css` and `application.js`) which are to be precompiled when `rake assets:precompile` is run.
*`config.assets.logger` accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby `Logger` class. Defaults to the same configured at `config.logger`. Setting `config.assets.logger` to false will turn off served assets logging.
*`assets` allows to create assets on generating a scaffold. Defaults to `true`.
*`force_plural` allows pluralized model names. Defaults to `false`.
*`helper` defines whether or not to generate helpers. Defaults to `true`.
*`integration_tool` defines which integration tool to use. Defaults to `nil`.
*`javascripts` turns on the hook for JavaScript files in generators. Used in Rails for when the `scaffold` generator is run. Defaults to `true`.
*`javascript_engine` configures the engine to be used (for eg. coffee) when generating assets. Defaults to `nil`.
*`orm` defines which orm to use. Defaults to `false` and will use Active Record by default.
*`resource_controller` defines which generator to use for generating a controller when using `rails generate resource`. Defaults to `:controller`.
*`scaffold_controller` different from `resource_controller`, defines which generator to use for generating a _scaffolded_ controller when using `rails generate scaffold`. Defaults to `:scaffold_controller`.
*`stylesheets` turns on the hook for stylesheets in generators. Used in Rails for when the `scaffold` generator is run, but this hook can be used in other generates as well. Defaults to `true`.
*`stylesheet_engine` configures the stylesheet engine (for eg. sass) to be used when generating assets. Defaults to `:css`.
*`test_framework` defines which test framework to use. Defaults to `false` and will use Test::Unit by default.
*`template_engine` defines which template engine to use, such as ERB or Haml. Defaults to `:erb`.
*`ActionDispatch::SSL` forces every request to be under HTTPS protocol. Will be available if `config.force_ssl` is set to `true`. Options passed to this can be configured by using `config.ssl_options`.
*`ActiveSupport::Cache::Strategy::LocalCache` serves as a basic memory backed cache. This cache is not thread safe and is intended only for serving as a temporary memory cache for a single thread.
*`Rack::Runtime` sets an `X-Runtime` header, containing the time (in seconds) taken to execute the request.
*`ActionDispatch::ShowExceptions` rescues any exception returned by the application and renders nice exception pages if the request is local or if `config.consider_all_requests_local` is set to `true`. If `config.action_dispatch.show_exceptions` is set to `false`, exceptions will be raised regardless.
*`ActionDispatch::RequestId` makes a unique X-Request-Id header available to the response and enables the `ActionDispatch::Request#uuid` method.
*`ActionDispatch::RemoteIp` checks for IP spoofing attacks and gets valid `client_ip` from request headers. Configurable with the `config.action_dispatch.ip_spoofing_check`, and `config.action_dispatch.trusted_proxies` options.
*`Rack::Sendfile` intercepts responses whose body is being served from a file and replaces it with a server specific X-Sendfile header. Configurable with `config.action_dispatch.x_sendfile_header`.
*`ActionDispatch::Callbacks` runs the prepare callbacks before serving the request.
*`ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::ConnectionManagement` cleans active connections after each request, unless the `rack.test` key in the request environment is set to `true`.
*`ActiveRecord::QueryCache` caches all SELECT queries generated in a request. If any INSERT or UPDATE takes place then the cache is cleaned.
*`ActionDispatch::Cookies` sets cookies for the request.
*`ActionDispatch::Session::CookieStore` is responsible for storing the session in cookies. An alternate middleware can be used for this by changing the `config.action_controller.session_store` to an alternate value. Additionally, options passed to this can be configured by using `config.action_controller.session_options`.
*`ActionDispatch::Flash` sets up the `flash` keys. Only available if `config.action_controller.session_store` is set to a value.
*`ActionDispatch::ParamsParser` parses out parameters from the request into `params`.
*`Rack::MethodOverride` allows the method to be overridden if `params[:_method]` is set. This is the middleware which supports the PATCH, PUT, and DELETE HTTP method types.
*`ActionDispatch::Head` converts HEAD requests to GET requests and serves them as so.
Besides these usual middleware, you can add your own by using the `config.middleware.use` method:
*`config.active_record.logger` accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby Logger class, which is then passed on to any new database connections made. You can retrieve this logger by calling `logger` on either an Active Record model class or an Active Record model instance. Set to `nil` to disable logging.
*`config.active_record.primary_key_prefix_type` lets you adjust the naming for primary key columns. By default, Rails assumes that primary key columns are named `id` (and this configuration option doesn't need to be set.) There are two other choices:
** `:table_name` would make the primary key for the Customer class `customerid`
** `:table_name_with_underscore` would make the primary key for the Customer class `customer_id`
*`config.active_record.table_name_prefix` lets you set a global string to be prepended to table names. If you set this to `northwest_`, then the Customer class will look for `northwest_customers` as its table. The default is an empty string.
*`config.active_record.table_name_suffix` lets you set a global string to be appended to table names. If you set this to `_northwest`, then the Customer class will look for `customers_northwest` as its table. The default is an empty string.
*`config.active_record.pluralize_table_names` specifies whether Rails will look for singular or plural table names in the database. If set to true (the default), then the Customer class will use the `customers` table. If set to false, then the Customer class will use the `customer` table.
*`config.active_record.default_timezone` determines whether to use `Time.local` (if set to `:local`) or `Time.utc` (if set to `:utc`) when pulling dates and times from the database. The default is `:utc` for Rails, although Active Record defaults to `:local` when used outside of Rails.
*`config.active_record.schema_format` controls the format for dumping the database schema to a file. The options are `:ruby` (the default) for a database-independent version that depends on migrations, or `:sql` for a set of (potentially database-dependent) SQL statements.
*`config.active_record.timestamped_migrations` controls whether migrations are numbered with serial integers or with timestamps. The default is true, to use timestamps, which are preferred if there are multiple developers working on the same application.
*`config.active_record.record_timestamps` is a boolean value which controls whether or not timestamping of `create` and `update` operations on a model occur. The default value is `true`.
*`config.active_record.partial_writes` is a boolean value and controls whether or not partial writes are used (i.e. whether updates only set attributes that are dirty). Note that when using partial writes, you should also use optimistic locking `config.active_record.lock_optimistically` since concurrent updates may write attributes based on a possibly stale read state. The default value is `true`.
*`config.active_record.attribute_types_cached_by_default` sets the attribute types that `ActiveRecord::AttributeMethods` will cache by default on reads. The default is `[:datetime, :timestamp, :time, :date]`.
*`ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::MysqlAdapter.emulate_booleans` controls whether Active Record will consider all `tinyint(1)` columns in a MySQL database to be booleans and is true by default.
*`ActiveRecord::SchemaDumper.ignore_tables` accepts an array of tables that should _not_ be included in any generated schema file. This setting is ignored unless `config.active_record.schema_format == :ruby`.
*`config.action_controller.asset_host` sets the host for the assets. Useful when CDNs are used for hosting assets rather than the application server itself.
*`config.action_controller.perform_caching` configures whether the application should perform caching or not. Set to false in development mode, true in production.
*`config.action_controller.logger` accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby Logger class, which is then used to log information from Action Controller. Set to `nil` to disable logging.
*`config.action_controller.request_forgery_protection_token` sets the token parameter name for RequestForgery. Calling `protect_from_forgery` sets it to `:authenticity_token` by default.
*`config.action_controller.allow_forgery_protection` enables or disables CSRF protection. By default this is `false` in test mode and `true` in all other modes.
*`config.action_controller.relative_url_root` can be used to tell Rails that you are [deploying to a subdirectory](configuring.html#deploy-to-a-subdirectory-relative-url-root). The default is `ENV['RAILS_RELATIVE_URL_ROOT']`.
*`config.action_controller.permit_all_parameters` sets all the parameters for mass assignment to be permitted by default. The default value is `false`.
*`config.action_controller.action_on_unpermitted_parameters` enables logging or raising an exception if parameters that are not explicitly permitted are found. Set to `:log` or `:raise` to enable. The default value is `:log` in development and test environments, and `false` in all other environments.
*`config.action_dispatch.session_store` sets the name of the store for session data. The default is `:cookie_store`; other valid options include `:active_record_store`, `:mem_cache_store` or the name of your own custom class.
*`ActionDispatch::Callbacks.to_prepare` takes a block to run after `ActionDispatch::Callbacks.before`, but before the request. Runs for every request in `development` mode, but only once for `production` or environments with `cache_classes` set to `true`.
*`config.action_view.default_form_builder` tells Rails which form builder to use by default. The default is `ActionView::Helpers::FormBuilder`. If you want your form builder class to be loaded after initialization (so it's reloaded on each request in development), you can pass it as a `String`
*`config.action_view.logger` accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby Logger class, which is then used to log information from Action View. Set to `nil` to disable logging.
*`config.action_view.erb_trim_mode` gives the trim mode to be used by ERB. It defaults to `'-'`. See the [ERB documentation](http://www.ruby-doc.org/stdlib/libdoc/erb/rdoc/) for more information.
*`config.action_view.embed_authenticity_token_in_remote_forms` allows you to set the default behavior for `authenticity_token` in forms with `:remote => true`. By default it's set to false, which means that remote forms will not include `authenticity_token`, which is helpful when you're fragment-caching the form. Remote forms get the authenticity from the `meta` tag, so embedding is unnecessary unless you support browsers without JavaScript. In such case you can either pass `:authenticity_token => true` as a form option or set this config setting to `true`
*`config.action_view.prefix_partial_path_with_controller_namespace` determines whether or not partials are looked up from a subdirectory in templates rendered from namespaced controllers. For example, consider a controller named `Admin::PostsController` which renders this template:
The default setting is `true`, which uses the partial at `/admin/posts/_post.erb`. Setting the value to `false` would render `/posts/_post.erb`, which is the same behavior as rendering from a non-namespaced controller such as `PostsController`.
*`config.action_mailer.logger` accepts a logger conforming to the interface of Log4r or the default Ruby Logger class, which is then used to log information from Action Mailer. Set to `nil` to disable logging.
*`config.action_mailer.smtp_settings` allows detailed configuration for the `:smtp` delivery method. It accepts a hash of options, which can include any of these options:
*`:address` - Allows you to use a remote mail server. Just change it from its default "localhost" setting.
*`:port` - On the off chance that your mail server doesn't run on port 25, you can change it.
*`:domain` - If you need to specify a HELO domain, you can do it here.
*`:user_name` - If your mail server requires authentication, set the username in this setting.
*`:password` - If your mail server requires authentication, set the password in this setting.
*`:authentication` - If your mail server requires authentication, you need to specify the authentication type here. This is a symbol and one of `:plain`, `:login`, `:cram_md5`.
*`config.action_mailer.sendmail_settings` allows detailed configuration for the `sendmail` delivery method. It accepts a hash of options, which can include any of these options:
*`config.action_mailer.perform_deliveries` specifies whether mail will actually be delivered and is true by default. It can be convenient to set it to false for testing.
*`config.action_mailer.default_options` configures Action Mailer defaults. Use to set options like `from` or `reply_to` for every mailer. These default to:
*`config.active_support.bare` enables or disables the loading of `active_support/all` when booting Rails. Defaults to `nil`, which means `active_support/all` is loaded.
*`ActiveSupport::Deprecation.behavior` alternative setter to `config.active_support.deprecation` which configures the behavior of deprecation warnings for Rails.
Just about every Rails application will interact with a database. The database to use is specified in a configuration file called `config/database.yml`. If you open this file in a new Rails application, you'll see a default database configured to use SQLite3. The file contains sections for three different environments in which Rails can run by default:
TIP: You don't have to update the database configurations manually. If you look at the options of the application generator, you will see that one of the options is named `--database`. This option allows you to choose an adapter from a list of the most used relational databases. You can even run the generator repeatedly: `cd .. && rails new blog --database=mysql`. When you confirm the overwriting of the `config/database.yml` file, your application will be configured for MySQL instead of SQLite. Detailed examples of the common database connections are below.
Rails comes with built-in support for [SQLite3](http://www.sqlite.org), which is a lightweight serverless database application. While a busy production environment may overload SQLite, it works well for development and testing. Rails defaults to using an SQLite database when creating a new project, but you can always change it later.
NOTE: Rails uses an SQLite3 database for data storage by default because it is a zero configuration database that just works. Rails also supports MySQL and PostgreSQL "out of the box", and has plugins for many database systems. If you are using a database in a production environment Rails most likely has an adapter for it.
If you choose to use MySQL instead of the shipped SQLite3 database, your `config/database.yml` will look a little different. Here's the development section:
If your development computer's MySQL installation includes a root user with an empty password, this configuration should work for you. Otherwise, change the username and password in the `development` section as appropriate.
By default Rails ships with three environments: "development", "test", and "production". While these are sufficient for most use cases, there are circumstances when you want more environments.
Imagine you have a server which mirrors the production environment but is only used for testing. Such a server is commonly called a "staging server". To define an environment called "staging" for this server, just create a file called `config/environments/staging.rb`. Please use the contents of any existing file in `config/environments` as a starting point and make the necessary changes from there.
That environment is no different than the default ones, start a server with `rails server -e staging`, a console with `rails console staging`, `Rails.env.staging?` works, etc.
Some parts of Rails can also be configured externally by supplying environment variables. The following environment variables are recognized by various parts of Rails:
*`ENV["RAILS_RELATIVE_URL_ROOT"]` is used by the routing code to recognize URLs when you [deploy your application to a subdirectory](configuring.html#deploy-to-a-subdirectory-relative-url-root).
*`ENV["RAILS_CACHE_ID"]` and `ENV["RAILS_APP_VERSION"]` are used to generate expanded cache keys in Rails' caching code. This allows you to have multiple separate caches from the same application.
After loading the framework and any gems in your application, Rails turns to loading initializers. An initializer is any Ruby file stored under `config/initializers` in your application. You can use initializers to hold configuration settings that should be made after all of the frameworks and gems are loaded, such as options to configure settings for these parts.
NOTE: You can use subfolders to organize your initializers if you like, because Rails will look into the whole file hierarchy from the initializers folder on down.
TIP: If you have any ordering dependency in your initializers, you can control the load order through naming. Initializer files are loaded in alphabetical order by their path. For example, `01_critical.rb` will be loaded before `02_normal.rb`.
*`before_configuration`: This is run as soon as the application constant inherits from `Rails::Application`. The `config` calls are evaluated before this happens.
*`before_initialize`: This is run directly before the initialization process of the application occurs with the `:bootstrap_hook` initializer near the beginning of the Rails initialization process.
*`to_prepare`: Run after the initializers are run for all Railties (including the application itself), but before eager loading and the middleware stack is built. More importantly, will run upon every request in `development`, but only once (during boot-up) in `production` and `test`.
*`before_eager_load`: This is run directly before eager loading occurs, which is the default behavior for the `production` environment and not for the `development` environment.
Rails has several initializers that run on startup that are all defined by using the `initializer` method from `Rails::Railtie`. Here's an example of the `set_helpers_path` initializer from Action Controller:
The `initializer` method takes three arguments with the first being the name for the initializer and the second being an options hash (not shown here) and the third being a block. The `:before` key in the options hash can be specified to specify which initializer this new initializer must run before, and the `:after` key will specify which initializer to run this initializer _after_.
Initializers defined using the `initializer` method will be run in the order they are defined in, with the exception of ones that use the `:before` or `:after` methods.
WARNING: You may put your initializer before or after any other initializer in the chain, as long as it is logical. Say you have 4 initializers called "one" through "four" (defined in that order) and you define "four" to go _before_ "four" but _after_ "three", that just isn't logical and Rails will not be able to determine your initializer order.
The block argument of the `initializer` method is the instance of the application itself, and so we can access the configuration on it by using the `config` method as done in the example.
Because `Rails::Application` inherits from `Rails::Railtie` (indirectly), you can use the `initializer` method in `config/application.rb` to define initializers for the application.
Below is a comprehensive list of all the initializers found in Rails in the order that they are defined (and therefore run in, unless otherwise stated).
*`load_active_support` Requires `active_support/dependencies` which sets up the basis for Active Support. Optionally requires `active_support/all` if `config.active_support.bare` is un-truthful, which is the default.
*`initialize_logger` Initializes the logger (an `ActiveSupport::Logger` object) for the application and makes it accessible at `Rails.logger`, provided that no initializer inserted before this point has defined `Rails.logger`.
*`initialize_cache` If `Rails.cache` isn't set yet, initializes the cache by referencing the value in `config.cache_store` and stores the outcome as `Rails.cache`. If this object responds to the `middleware` method, its middleware is inserted before `Rack::Runtime` in the middleware stack.
*`set_clear_dependencies_hook` Provides a hook for `active_record.set_dispatch_hooks` to use, which will run before this initializer. This initializer - which runs only if `cache_classes` is set to `false` - uses `ActionDispatch::Callbacks.after` to remove the constants which have been referenced during the request from the object space so that they will be reloaded during the following request.
*`initialize_dependency_mechanism` If `config.cache_classes` is true, configures `ActiveSupport::Dependencies.mechanism` to `require` dependencies rather than `load` them.
*`i18n.callbacks` In the development environment, sets up a `to_prepare` callback which will call `I18n.reload!` if any of the locales have changed since the last request. In production mode this callback will only run on the first request.
*`active_support.deprecation_behavior` Sets up deprecation reporting for environments, defaulting to `:log` for development, `:notify` for production and `:stderr` for test. If a value isn't set for `config.active_support.deprecation` then this initializer will prompt the user to configure this line in the current environment's `config/environments` file. Can be set to an array of values.
*`active_support.initialize_time_zone` Sets the default time zone for the application based on the `config.time_zone` setting, which defaults to "UTC".
*`active_support.initialize_beginning_of_week` Sets the default beginning of week for the application based on `config.beginning_of_week` setting, which defaults to `:monday`.
*`action_view.set_configs` Sets up Action View by using the settings in `config.action_view` by `send`'ing the method names as setters to `ActionView::Base` and passing the values through.
*`action_controller.set_configs` Sets up Action Controller by using the settings in `config.action_controller` by `send`'ing the method names as setters to `ActionController::Base` and passing the values through.
*`active_record.initialize_timezone` Sets `ActiveRecord::Base.time_zone_aware_attributes` to true, as well as setting `ActiveRecord::Base.default_timezone` to UTC. When attributes are read from the database, they will be converted into the time zone specified by `Time.zone`.
*`active_record.set_configs` Sets up Active Record by using the settings in `config.active_record` by `send`'ing the method names as setters to `ActiveRecord::Base` and passing the values through.
*`active_record.initialize_database` Loads the database configuration (by default) from `config/database.yml` and establishes a connection for the current environment.
*`active_record.log_runtime` Includes `ActiveRecord::Railties::ControllerRuntime` which is responsible for reporting the time taken by Active Record calls for the request back to the logger.
*`action_mailer.set_configs` Sets up Action Mailer by using the settings in `config.action_mailer` by `send`'ing the method names as setters to `ActionMailer::Base` and passing the values through.
*`set_load_path` This initializer runs before `bootstrap_hook`. Adds the `vendor`, `lib`, all directories of `app` and any paths specified by `config.load_paths` to `$LOAD_PATH`.
*`set_autoload_paths` This initializer runs before `bootstrap_hook`. Adds all sub-directories of `app` and paths specified by `config.autoload_paths` to `ActiveSupport::Dependencies.autoload_paths`.
*`add_routing_paths` Loads (by default) all `config/routes.rb` files (in the application and railties, including engines) and sets up the routes for the application.
*`add_locales` Adds the files in `config/locales` (from the application, railties and engines) to `I18n.load_path`, making available the translations in these files.
*`append_asset_paths` Finds asset paths for the application and all attached railties and keeps a track of the available directories in `config.static_asset_paths`.
*`prepend_helpers_path` Adds the directory `app/helpers` from the application, railties and engines to the lookup path for helpers for the application.
*`load_config_initializers` Loads all Ruby files from `config/initializers` in the application, railties and engines. The files in this directory can be used to hold configuration settings that should be made after all of the frameworks are loaded.
*`engines_blank_point` Provides a point-in-initialization to hook into if you wish to do anything before engines are loaded. After this point, all railtie and engine initializers are run.
*`add_generator_templates` Finds templates for generators at `lib/templates` for the application, railties and engines and adds these to the `config.generators.templates` setting, which will make the templates available for all generators to reference.
*`ensure_autoload_once_paths_as_subset` Ensures that the `config.autoload_once_paths` only contains paths from `config.autoload_paths`. If it contains extra paths, then an exception will be raised.
*`add_to_prepare_blocks` The block for every `config.to_prepare` call in the application, a railtie or engine is added to the `to_prepare` callbacks for Action Dispatch which will be run per request in development, or before the first request in production.
*`add_builtin_route` If the application is running under the development environment then this will append the route for `rails/info/properties` to the application routes. This route provides the detailed information such as Rails and Ruby version for `public/index.html` in a default Rails application.
*`build_middleware_stack` Builds the middleware stack for the application, returning an object which has a `call` method which takes a Rack environment object for the request.
*`eager_load!` If `config.eager_load` is true, runs the `config.before_eager_load` hooks and then calls `eager_load!` which will load all `config.eager_load_namespaces`.
*`finisher_hook` Provides a hook for after the initialization of process of the application is complete, as well as running all the `config.after_initialize` blocks for the application, railties and engines.
Active Record database connections are managed by `ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::ConnectionPool` which ensures that a connection pool synchronizes the amount of thread access to a limited number of database connections. This limit defaults to 5 and can be configured in `database.yml`.
Since the connection pooling is handled inside of Active Record by default, all application servers (Thin, mongrel, Unicorn etc.) should behave the same. Initially, the database connection pool is empty and it will create additional connections as the demand for them increases, until it reaches the connection pool limit.
Any one request will check out a connection the first time it requires access to the database, after which it will check the connection back in, at the end of the request, meaning that the additional connection slot will be available again for the next request in the queue.
If you try to use more connections than are available, Active Record will block
and wait for a connection from the pool. When it cannot get connection, a timeout
error similar to given below will be thrown.
```ruby
ActiveRecord::ConnectionTimeoutError - could not obtain a database connection within 5 seconds. The max pool size is currently 5; consider increasing it:
```
If you get the above error, you might want to increase the size of connection
pool by incrementing the `pool` option in `database.yml`
NOTE. If you have enabled `Rails.threadsafe!` mode then there could be a chance that several threads may be accessing multiple connections simultaneously. So depending on your current request load, you could very well have multiple threads contending for a limited amount of connections.
