= Trac Storage - The Environment =

Trac uses a directory structure and a database for storing project data.

== Creating an Environment ==

A new Trac environment is created using [wiki:TracAdmin trac-admin]:
{{{
$ trac-admin /path/to/projectenv initenv
}}}

[wiki:TracAdmin trac-admin] will ask you for the name of the project, the
database connection string (explained below), and where your subversion
repository is located.

  ''Note: The web server user will require file system write permission to
the environment directory and all the files inside. Please remember to set
the appropriate permissions. The same applies to the Subversion
repository, although Trac will only require read access as long as you're
not using the BDB file system.''

== Database Connection Strings ==

Since version 0.9, Trac supports both [http://sqlite.org/ SQLite] and
[http://www.postgresql.org/ PostgreSQL] as database backends.  The default
is to use SQLite, which is probably sufficient for most projects. The database file
is then stored in the environment directory, and can easily be
[wiki:TracBackup backed up] together with the rest of the environment.

The connection string for an embedded SQLite database is:
{{{
sqlite:db/trac.db
}}}

If you want to use PostgreSQL instead, you'll have to use a different
connection string. For example, to connect to a database on the same
machine called `trac`, that allows access to the user `johndoe` with
the password `letmein`, use:
{{{
postgres://johndoe:letmein@localhost/trac
}}}

If PostgreSQL is running on a non-standard port (for example 9342), use:
{{{
postgres://johndoe:letmein@localhost:9342/trac
}}}

Note that with PostgreSQL you will have to create the database before running
`trac-admin initenv`.

== Directory Structure ==

An environment directory will usually consist of the following files and directories:

 * `README` - Brief description of the environment.
 * `VERSION` - Contains the environment version identifier.
 * `attachments` - Attachments to wiki pages and tickets are stored here.
 * `conf`
   * `trac.ini` - Main configuration file. See TracIni.
 * `db`
   * `trac.db` - The SQLite database (if you're using SQLite).
 * `plugins` - Environment-specific [wiki:TracPlugins plugins] (Python eggs)
 * `templates` - Custom environment-specific templates.
   * `site_css.cs` - Custom CSS rules.
   * `site_footer.cs` - Custom page footer.
   * `site_header.cs` - Custom page header.
 * `wiki-macros` - Environment-specific [wiki:WikiMacros Wiki macros].

----
See also: TracAdmin, TracBackup, TracIni, TracGuide