


Others periodically check the configuration files for changes. Some computer programs only read their configuration files at startup. For server processes and operating-system settings, there is often no standard tool, but operating systems may provide their own graphical interfaces such as YaST or debconf.

For other programs, system administrators may be expected to create and modify files by hand using a text editor, which is possible because many are human-editable plain text files. Some applications provide tools to create, modify, and verify the syntax of their configuration files these sometimes have graphical interfaces. They are used for user applications, server processes and operating system settings. In computing, configuration files (commonly known simply as config files) are files used to configure the parameters and initial settings for some computer programs. For Microsoft Windows resource scripts, see Resource (Windows).
