System Administrator's Handbook

Opera has been lauded as "a system administrator's dream" because of its unique capabilities, options for configuration, and customization. The usages of Opera can be very different, and very powerful; in a network setting, as a kiosk browser, in a multiple user, or single user environment. Here is some information to help maximize your control of Opera in varied environments.

Super setup file and preferences

The current implementation uses three different preference settings files. One is a user file, and the other two are system files. The format of the three files is the same. There are no special lines that need to be entered. Anything that you can have in your local opera.ini, you can have in the two others. The settings files work as follows:

User file

This is the OPERA.INI as we all know it. This is where all the changes that are made via the Opera user interface (GUI) are stored. It is either specified on the command line or Opera searches for it (in Windows) in the EXE directory or the Windows directory, or on Linux in ~/.opera/opera.ini. More information on opera.ini can be found in the document Opera.ini settings explained.

System fixed

The "system fixed" is where the system administrator can put non-overridable settings, such as proxy settings and such. This file, under Windows, should be placed in the system directory and (also) named OPERA.INI. On Linux this should be /etc/operarc.fixed
(on Windows is called %SYSDIR%\OPERA.INI, and on Linux /etc/operarc.fixed )
Since "system directory" varies from system to system, this means that normally the placement would be \WINNT\SYSTEM32 on Windows NT and \WINDOWS\SYSTEM on Windows 9x.

The "system fixed" file overrides anything that is specified in the OPERA.INI user file.

This means, for example, that if you set

[User Prefs]
Home URL=http://www.opera.com/

in the system fixed, then you cannot change to another global homepage in Opera. These settings can not be overridden by the user, although they will be visibly available in the preference dialogues. (See [Menu Prefs Settings] for info on hiding preference dialogs from the GUI.)

System defaults

The "system defaults" is a fall-back file, where the system administrator can store default values that the users are able to override. The system defaults file is given the lowest priority, and will only be used if neither the "system fixed" nor the local opera.ini defines the setting. If the same setting is in the user file, then the user file always has precedence. The "system defaults" file on the Windows platform should be called OPERADEF.INI, and on Linux it should be /etc/operarc
This file should be placed in the system directory.
(on Windows is called %SYSDIR%\OPERADEF.INI, and on Linux /etc/operarc )

Notes

• Not all systems implement the three-level scheme. For systems that are inherently single-user, such as a palm top running EPOC, there wouldn't be much use for it.
• The user settings file can have any name with an .ini extension, and this will be used at startup if specified in the command line. See the sections Alternative and multiple user configuration and Command line options for more info.

Micro-configuration

The settings file opera.ini is a mind-boggling, extensive array of options for micro-configuration and is highly recommended reading for those who want the utmost control of the Opera browsing experience.

File Locations

By default, Opera installs all its files and folders (except opera.ini) into the Opera directory.

You can set the locations of all, or only selected files, on any local drive, network drive, or even on removeable media. For example, the Help files could be left in the Opera program directory, while personalized files such as the global history and the hotlist could be stored elsewhere.

Customizable files and directories are specified below...

Specifying locations in:

Additional sections that contain specific path identifiers that may be useful:

and:

Menu Prefs Settings

In Opera 4.x, there is an option to disable some or all of the GUI preference sub-dialogs. Simply edit OPERA.INI (either: user, system fixed, or system default) by adding this entry: [Menu Prefs Settings]. Following it, add your choices for display of the individual preference dialog sections.

For example, the following list would make the "Languages", "Paths", and "Personal information" dialogs disappear from Opera's Preferences menu:

Use 1 to allow the user to view and change those particular preferences (unless prohibited by the system fixed file).
Use 0 to make those preferences inaccessible to the user.

The following is a complete list of Opera's program preference dialogs as defined by OPERA.INI.

Command line options

Command line options are particularly useful for starting Opera in some sort of customized mode. There are several ways to do this. For example, in Windows from "Run", or from (any number of) Opera icons or menu shortcuts. More in-depth information on how to set these up can be found in the alternative and multiple user configuration section.

Overview of available options:

• Alternative configuration file Specify an alternate settings file to be used.
• Document(s) Specify one or more documents to be loaded at startup.
• Switches Useful command line switches.
• /k or /kioskMode Other switches useful for presentation or kiosk mode.

Alternative and multiple user configuration

It is possible to use alternative settings file(s) for multiple version installations, alternative setups, and/or for supporting multiple users on the same system. More detailed information will be posted in the near future. (Relevant document is in draft stages.)

Command line options: Document(s)

One or more documents can be loaded at startup via the command line. Simply type the path to the Opera executable, plus the full path of the document(s), each separated by a space. This should be typed at the command line prompt, at "Run" in Windows, or (more permanently) in the Target line of any Opera icon/shortcut properties.

For example:
D:\Opera\Opera.exe http://www.opera.com http://www.myopera.com
or
d:\opera\opera.exe f:/Net/documents

Note, Opera will recognize characters in either upper or lower case, and will recognize either back or forward slashes in URLs at the command line. But note that other command line switches must be preceeded only by a forward slash.

You can run Opera from the command line using any combination of URLs and switches.

Command line options: Switches

One or more switches can be applied at startup via the command line. Simply type the path to the Opera executable, then the commanding switch(es), each separated by a space.

For example:
D:\Opera\Opera.exe /nowin
or
d:\opera\opera.exe /k /nowin
or
C:\Opera\opera.exe /k http://www.opera.com
or
F:\Opera\Opera.exe http://www.opera.com /k /nosplashscreen

Opera will recognize characters in either upper or lower case. Note that command line switches must be preceeded only by a forward slash.

Presentation or kiosk mode features

In addition to the other command line options, below is list of command line switches that can be very useful when using Opera as a kiosk browser or for presentations.

Kiosk mode

You can use /k (or /kioskMode) added to the command line to initiate "kiosk" mode. Kiosk mode is simply a shortcut for implementing the following six action switches:

• /NoChangeFullScreen
• /NoChangeMenu
• /NoChangeButtons
• /NoSysMenu
• /NoMinMaxButtons
• /NoKeyboardShortcuts

Using /noExit is an additional option. It totally prevents the browser from being closed from the system user interface. We recommend you to use it only when appropriate, because to kill is your only way out.

These previously mentioned switches may also be useful in kiosk or presentation mode.

• /e  
• /noWin
• /noSplashScreen

More...

And here is just a partial list of flags and switches (configurable from the user interface or from the settings file) that can also be useful for running opera in kiosk or presentation mode. Check out opera.ini for the finest selection of micro-configuration options and see the document operaini.html for more in-depth coverage.

Visit these sections in opera.ini, also:
[Performance], [Cache], [Multimedia], [Disk Cache], [HotlistWindow], [ClipBoard], [ToolBar], and the ubiquitous [USER PREFS].