[GH-ISSUE #348] Environment Variable Settings Are Not Being Obeyed #238

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opened 2026-10-15 12:58:36 +00:00 by bsakaguchi · 2 comments

bsakaguchi commented

2026-10-15 12:58:36 +00:00

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Originally created by @danieledwardgeorgehitchcock on GitHub (Feb 4, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/games-on-whales/wolf/issues/348

I have set the following variables in my Compose environment file:

WOLF_CFG_FILE="/config/config.toml"
WOLF_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE="/cert/key.pem"
WOLF_PRIVATE_CERT_FILE="/cert/cert.pem"

these should work according to the documentation found here: Games On Whales Wiki

I can see that the environment variables are being passed to the container, and I can print them too when executing the containers shell.

These however, seem to not be being obeyed as can be seen from the logs here:
14:23:51.202621845 INFO | Reading config file from: /etc/wolf/cfg/config.toml

I have checked the permissions on the bind/volume mounted folders and can indeed copy and read file information from them.

I have also noticed that an undocumented environment variable is stored as part of the container image: WOLF_CFG_FOLDER however, setting this also seems to have no impact.

The Wolf image that I am using is as follows: ghcr.io/games-on-whales/wolf:stable@sha256:cdec0936230792c051a075b6926fe529e6fee360ed9f48f87ac0183744f8299a

Originally created by @danieledwardgeorgehitchcock on GitHub (Feb 4, 2026). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/games-on-whales/wolf/issues/348 I have set the following variables in my Compose environment file: `WOLF_CFG_FILE="/config/config.toml"` `WOLF_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE="/cert/key.pem"` `WOLF_PRIVATE_CERT_FILE="/cert/cert.pem"` these should work according to the documentation found here: [Games On Whales Wiki](https://games-on-whales.github.io/wolf/stable/user/configuration.html#_env_variables) I can see that the environment variables are being passed to the container, and I can print them too when executing the containers shell. These however, seem to not be being obeyed as can be seen from the logs here: `14:23:51.202621845 INFO | Reading config file from: /etc/wolf/cfg/config.toml` I have checked the permissions on the bind/volume mounted folders and can indeed copy and read file information from them. I have also noticed that an undocumented environment variable is stored as part of the container image: `WOLF_CFG_FOLDER` however, setting this also seems to have no impact. The Wolf image that I am using is as follows: `ghcr.io/games-on-whales/wolf:stable@sha256:cdec0936230792c051a075b6926fe529e6fee360ed9f48f87ac0183744f8299a`

bsakaguchi closed this issue

2026-10-15 12:58:36 +00:00

bsakaguchi commented

2026-10-15 12:58:37 +00:00

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@ABeltramo commented on GitHub (Feb 4, 2026):

Yeah, docs are probably outdated on that front, and it looks like you are missing the startup script for context: github.com/games-on-whales/wolf@1e375d318f/docker/startup.sh (L8-L13)

Basically all those env variables are overridden there.

The current logic is a bit convoluted, and it's the result of years of dealing with users messing things up by not mounting the right folders or messing with the env variables and then asking for help here or on Discord 😅
The idea is that we automatically derive where /etc/wolf/ is mounted in the host and derive all the rest of the Docker app container variables from there (code here)

For your specific question of moving the config files and certificates, you can either:

set the env variable HOST_APPS_STATE_FOLDER and Wolf will create the files under $HOST_APPS_STATE_FOLDER/cfg
mount a custom startup.sh script under /opt/gow/startup-app.sh that changes that behaviour
open a PR that fixes this forced override?

@ABeltramo commented on GitHub (Feb 4, 2026): Yeah, docs are probably outdated on that front, and it looks like you are missing the startup script for context: https://github.com/games-on-whales/wolf/blob/1e375d318f5fbfbe88d27b4ca317ddb65841e9d0/docker/startup.sh#L8-L13 Basically all those env variables are overridden there. The current logic is a bit convoluted, and it's the result of years of dealing with users messing things up by not mounting the right folders or messing with the env variables and then asking for help here or on Discord 😅 The idea is that we automatically derive where `/etc/wolf/` is mounted in the host and derive all the rest of the Docker app container variables from there ([code here](https://github.com/games-on-whales/wolf/blob/1e375d318f5fbfbe88d27b4ca317ddb65841e9d0/src/moonlight-server/wolf.cpp#L69-L77)) For your specific question of moving the config files and certificates, you can either: - set the env variable `HOST_APPS_STATE_FOLDER` and Wolf will create the files under `$HOST_APPS_STATE_FOLDER/cfg` - mount a custom `startup.sh` script under `/opt/gow/startup-app.sh` that changes that behaviour - open a PR that fixes this forced override?

bsakaguchi commented

2026-10-15 12:58:37 +00:00

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@danieledwardgeorgehitchcock commented on GitHub (Feb 4, 2026):

Thanks! one of those options should suffice!

@danieledwardgeorgehitchcock commented on GitHub (Feb 4, 2026): Thanks! one of those options should suffice!