Configuration

Sherpa uses TOML configuration files for both the server and client.

Server Configuration

The server configuration file is located at /opt/sherpa/sherpa.toml.

Example

name = "sherpa-server"
server_ipv4 = "10.0.0.1"
ws_port = 3030
http_port = 3031
vm_provider = "libvirt"
qemu_bin = "/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64"
management_prefix_ipv4 = "172.31.0.0/16"
images_dir = "/opt/sherpa/images"
containers_dir = "/opt/sherpa/containers"
bins_dir = "/opt/sherpa/bins"

[ztp_server]
enable = true
username = "sherpa"
password = "sherpa"

[configuration_management]
ansible = false
pyats = false
nornir = false

[tls]
enabled = true
auto_generate_cert = true
cert_validity_days = 365

[otel]
enabled = false

[scanner]
enabled = true
interval_secs = 30

Base Fields

Property	Type	Default	Description
name	string		Server name (required)
server_ipv4	string	127.0.0.1	Server IPv4 address
server_ipv6	string		Server IPv6 address
ws_port	int	3030	WebSocket port
http_port	int	3031	HTTP port
vm_provider	string		VM provider — "libvirt" (required)
qemu_bin	string		Path to QEMU binary (required)
management_prefix_ipv4	string	172.31.0.0/16	Management network IPv4 CIDR
management_prefix_ipv6	string		Management network IPv6 CIDR
images_dir	string		Directory for VM/unikernel images (required)
containers_dir	string		Directory for container images (required)
bins_dir	string		Directory for binary files (required)

[ztp_server]

Zero-Touch Provisioning server settings.

Property	Type	Default	Description
enable	bool	true	Enable or disable the ZTP server
username	string	"sherpa"	ZTP authentication username
password	string	"Everest1953!"	ZTP authentication password

[configuration_management]

Configuration management tool integrations. When enabled, Sherpa generates inventory files.

Property	Type	Default	Description
ansible	bool	false	Generate Ansible inventory
pyats	bool	false	Generate pyATS testbed
nornir	bool	false	Generate Nornir inventory

[server_connection]

Internal server connection settings.

Property	Type	Default	Description
url	string		WebSocket URL override
timeout_secs	int	3	Connection timeout in seconds
validate_certs	bool	true	Validate server TLS certificates
ca_cert_path	string		Path to custom CA certificate for self-signed certs
insecure	bool	false	Skip certificate validation (development only)

[tls]

TLS configuration for the server.

Property	Type	Default	Description
enabled	bool	true	Enable TLS for connections
cert_path	string	/opt/sherpa/.certs/server.crt	Path to server certificate (PEM)
key_path	string	/opt/sherpa/.certs/server.key	Path to server private key (PEM)
auto_generate_cert	bool	true	Auto-generate self-signed certificate if none exists
cert_validity_days	int	365	Certificate validity in days (for auto-generated certs)
san	list<string>	[]	Subject Alternative Names (DNS names, IPs)

[otel]

OpenTelemetry observability configuration. When enabled, Sherpa exports distributed traces via OTLP.

Property	Type	Default	Description
enabled	bool	false	Enable OpenTelemetry trace export
endpoint	string	http://localhost:4317	OTLP collector endpoint
protocol	string	grpc	OTLP transport protocol (grpc or http)
service_name	string	sherpad	Service name reported to the collector
sample_ratio	float	1.0	Trace sampling ratio (0.0 - 1.0)

[scanner]

Background scanner service configuration for periodic image discovery.

Property	Type	Default	Description
enabled	bool	true	Enable the background scanner service
interval_secs	int	30	Interval between scan cycles in seconds

Client Configuration

The client configuration file is located at ~/.sherpa/config/sherpa.toml. It is created by running sherpa init.

Example

name = "my-client"
server_ipv4 = "10.0.0.1"
ws_port = 3030
http_port = 3031

[server_connection]
timeout_secs = 3
validate_certs = true

[tls]
enabled = true

Client Fields

Property	Type	Default	Description
name	string	""	Client name
server_ipv4	string	127.0.0.1	Server IPv4 address to connect to
server_ipv6	string		Server IPv6 address to connect to
ws_port	int	3030	Server WebSocket port
http_port	int	3031	Server HTTP port

The client also supports the [server_connection] and [tls] sections with the same fields as the server configuration.