Documentation for settings file

docs/config.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+InvenTree Configuration
+=======================
+
+.. toctree::
+   :titlesonly:
+   :maxdepth: 2
+   :caption: Configuration
+   :hidden:
+
+Admin users will need to adjust the InvenTree installation to meet the particular needs of their setup. For example, pointing to the correct database backend, or specifying a list of allowed hosts.
+
+The Django configuration parameters are found in the normal place (``settings.py``). However the settings presented in this file should not be adjusted as they will alter the core behaviour of the InvenTree application.
+
+To support install specific settings, a simple configuration file ``config.yaml`` is provided. This configuration file is loaded by ``settings.py`` at runtime. Settings specific to a given install should be adjusted in ``config.yaml``.
+
+The default configuration file launches a *DEBUG* configuration with a simple SQLITE database backend. This default configuration file is shown below:
+
+.. literalinclude :: ../InvenTree/config.yaml
+   :language: yaml
+   :linenos:
+
+Database Options
+----------------
+
+InvenTree provides support for multiple database backends - any backend supported natively by Django can be used. 
+
+Database options are specified under the *database* heading in the configuration file. Any option available in the Django documentation can be used here - it is passed through transparently to the management scripts.
+
+**SQLITE:**
+By default, InvenTree uses an sqlite database file : ``inventree_db.sqlite3``. This provides a simple, portable database file that is easy to use for debug and testing purposes. 
+
+
+**MYSQL:** MySQL database backend is supported with the native Django implemetation.
+
+**POSTGRESQL:** PostgreSQL database backend is supported with the native Django implementation. Note that to use this backend, the ``psycopg2`` Python library must first be installed.

docs/index.rst

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ InvenTree Source Documentation
    :hidden:
 
    Getting Started<start>
+   Configuration<config>
    Modal Forms<forms>
    Tables<tables>
    REST API<rest>

docs/start.rst

@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@ Getting Started Guide
    :caption: Getting Started
    :hidden:
 
-To install a complete development environment for InvenTree, follow the steps presented below.
+To install a complete *development* environment for InvenTree, follow the steps presented below. A production environment will require further work as per the particular application requirements. 
 
 A makefile in the root directory provides shortcuts for the installation process, and can also be very useful during development.
 
 Installation
 ------------
 
-All packages required to develop and test InvenTree can be installed via pip package manager. Package requirements can be found in ``requirements.txt``.
+InvenTree is a Python/Django application and relies on the pip package manager. All packages required to develop and test InvenTree can be installed via pip. Package requirements can be found in ``requirements.txt``.
 
-To setup the InvenTree environment, run the command
+To setup the InvenTree environment, run the command:
 
 ``make install``
 
@@ -25,6 +25,15 @@ which performs the following actions:
 * Installs all required Python packages using pip package manager
 * Generates a SECREY_KEY file required for the django authentication framework
 
+Install Configuration
+---------------------
+
+InvenTree provides a simple default setup which should work *out of the box* for testing and debug purposes. For installation in production environments, further configuration options are available in the ``config.yaml`` configuration file. 
+
+The configuration file provides administrators control over various setup options without digging into the Django ``settings.py`` script. The default setup uses a sqlite database with *DEBUG* mode enabled.
+
+For further information on installation configuration, refer to the `Configuration <config.html>`_ section.
+
 Superuser Account
 -----------------