Make your D8 site a Platform with Config Installer

Are you still using the “standard” Drupal install profile to create your site? Read on, there is a better way.

One of the best methods to build and manage a new Drupal website is to create a custom install profile. I have made the case for this approach before at NYC Camp and our company blog that your Drupal site is a platform. This presentation will build on that case and talk through the details for how you manage a custom install profile in Drupal 8.

The first thing to understand is how the new Drupal 8 configuration management layer affects how you will manage your configuration alongside your install profile. You might know the basics of how Drupal 8 stores configuration but do you know how to restore that configuration on a clean install? We’ll show you how with the Config installer profile. This tool allows you to use the same configuration folder for new installs that you push to your live site. We’ll explain why this is important and why this extra contrib profile is currently needed.

During this session we’ll go step by step to get you up and running and talk through several real world examples where this is being used. If you aren’t using custom profiles you will want to learn more about this process and I believe by the end of the session you will be convinced!

Session Outline

• Where should you store your configuration?
• How do you configure the “sync” directory?
• What are the Drush commands for dumping and restoring configuration?
• What’s the fastest way to create a custom install profile?
• What is Config installer and why do we need it with Drupal 8?
• How do I restore my configuration with a clean install profile?
• What about Features?
• Why should I use Composer?
• What are the benefits to this approach?

About The Presenter

Jay Callicott is a Director of Development for Mediacurrent and an enthusiastic Drupal developer for over 10 years. He is also the maintainer of the popular OpenChurch Drupal distribution.

Jay is an avid supporter and contributor to Drupal open source projects. Jay writes blogs on Drupal and has spoken at several Drupal events including a session on Marketing Automation at Drupalcon, Austin in 2014 and a Features-related session at NYC Camp in 2015.