# Changing config at runtime

OpenStack Newton introduces the ability to reload (or ‘mutate’) certain configuration options at runtime without a service restart. The following projects support this:

- Compute (nova)

Check individual options to discover if they are mutable.

## In practice

A common use case is to enable debug logging after a failure. Use the mutable config option called ‘debug’ to do this (providing `log_config_append` has not been set). An admin user may perform the following steps:

1. Log onto the compute node.

2. Edit the config file (EG `nova.conf`) and change ‘debug’ to `True`.

3. Send a SIGHUP signal to the nova process (For example, `pkill -HUP nova`).

A log message will be written out confirming that the option has been changed. If you use a CMS like Ansible, Chef, or Puppet, we recommend scripting these steps through your CMS.

this page last updated: 2026-01-28 20:28:15

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