Environment Variables
Runtime environment variables read by norsk-ctl. The daemon picks these up at startup; the CLI honours the port and store-dir ones for daemon discovery.
These are variables for the daemon process itself. To set environment inside an instance’s containers — cloud credentials, a proxy, a CA bundle — see Instance Environment.
User-facing
Section titled “User-facing”| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
NORSK_CTL_STORE_DIR | ~/.norsk-ctl | Top-level state directory. Holds config.yaml, norsk-ctl.db, certs/, logs |
NORSK_CTL_CONFIG_DIR | derived from STORE_DIR | Override just the config-file location |
NORSK_CTL_STATE_DIR | derived from STORE_DIR | Override just the SQLite-database location |
NORSK_CTL_LOG_DIR | <STORE_DIR>/log | Override the daemon’s log directory |
NORSK_CTL_PORT | 8333 | Port the daemon listens on (API + web UI + /mcp). Honoured by both daemon and CLI |
NORSK_DISCOVERY_TOKEN | — | Shared secret for the node’s norsk-discovery service. When set, the daemon starts the discovery container with it, presents it when registering launched instances, and hands it to each instance (as NORSK_LINK_DISCOVERY_TOKEN) so their links can resolve through the service |
NORSK_CTL_PROXY_CONTAINER | norsk-proxy | Docker container name for the nginx proxy |
NORSK_CTL_CPU_MONITOR_CONTAINER | norsk-ctl-cpu-monitor | Docker container name for the host CPU sampler sidecar |
NORSK_CTL_UPGRADE_CHECK | 1 | Set to 0 to disable the upgrade-check poll against the S3 channel pointer |
NORSK_CTL_DOWNLOAD_URL | S3 production URL | Override the base URL for binary downloads (used by upgrade + install scripts) |
NORSK_CTL_SIDELOAD_INDEX_URL | S3 production URL | Override the published GPU sideload bundle index (sideload-index.json) — point at a staging bucket or an air-gap mirror |
NORSK_CTL_SIDELOAD_USAGE_URL | S3 production URL | Override the published GPU sideload usage map (sideload-usage.json), which maps a media image ref to its bundle content hashes so the cache can be warmed before the image is pulled. Point it alongside the index when using a staging bucket or mirror |
PROXY_PORT | derived (proxyPort field, else 443) | Override the nginx proxy host port |
NORSK_ADMIN_PASSWORD | — | Read by install.sh (and friends) to set the initial proxy user password without putting it on the command line. Must be exported — a bare NORSK_ADMIN_PASSWORD=… assignment is not inherited by the script, which then prompts as if the value were never supplied. Must be at least 8 characters and contain a digit |
Installer variables
Section titled “Installer variables”Read by install.sh and the product bootstraps (install/studio.sh, install/probe.sh). Each has an equivalent flag; the flag wins.
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
NORSK_CTL_VERSION | channel latest | Install a specific CLI version instead of the channel head. Same as --version |
NORSK_CTL_BIN | — | Install from a local binary rather than downloading. Same as --bin |
NORSK_CTL_CHANNEL | latest | Release channel to resolve when no explicit version is given |
NORSK_CTL_BASE_URL | S3 production URL | Base URL the installer downloads binaries and bootstraps from. Point at a mirror or staging bucket |
NORSK_CTL_INSTALL_DIR | ~/.norsk-ctl/versions (local) | Where versioned binaries are kept |
NORSK_CTL_SHIM_DIR | ~/.local/bin (local) | Where the PATH-visible norsk-ctl symlink is written |
NORSK_KEEP_VERSIONS | 3 | How many previously installed binaries to retain when upgrading |
NORSK_PUBLIC_HOST | — | Host or IP clients use to reach the box, read by the installer and the GCP image bake. Equivalent to install.sh --public-host |
NORSK_PROXY_PORT | 443 | Host port the proxy listens on, for the same installers |
NORSK_KEY_PATH | — | Path to your TLS private key. Required when NORSK_CERT_SOURCE=user |
NORSK_CTL_SKIP_PORT_CHECK | — | Set to 1 to install even when a port we need (8333, the proxy port, the HTTP redirect port) is already in use. The check normally refuses before anything is installed and names what holds each port; override it when you are about to stop that service yourself |
Internal / dev
Section titled “Internal / dev”Set automatically by the daemon for its own subprocesses, or used by the test suite. Not for normal operator use.
| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
NORSK_CTL_ENV | production / development — affects log formatting and a few feature toggles |
NORSK_CTL_SKIP_PROXY_BOOT | Skip launching the nginx proxy at daemon startup (test seam) |
See also
Section titled “See also”- Configuration —
config.yamlfields (the canonical settings surface) - Ports — proxy port, daemon port, ingest ports