checkId: check.core.config.loaded plugin: stellaops.doctor.core severity: fail tags: [quick, configuration, startup]

Configuration Loaded

Doctor check check.core.config.loaded — for operators confirming that a Stella Ops service actually loaded its configuration before it tries to reach databases, brokers, and upstream services.

What It Checks

Verifies that the application configuration system is properly loaded and accessible. The check calls IConfiguration.GetChildren() and counts the number of root configuration sections. It collects:

SectionCount: total number of top-level configuration sections found.
RootSections: names of up to 10 root sections (e.g., Logging, ConnectionStrings, Authentication).
Environment: the current hosting environment name.

If zero sections are found, the check fails. If the configuration object throws an exception when accessed, the check also fails with the exception details.

Configuration is the foundation of every Stella Ops service. Without a loaded configuration, connection strings, authentication settings, feature flags, and service endpoints are all missing. The service will fail to connect to databases, message brokers, and upstream services. This check catches the scenario where config files are missing from the container image, environment variables are not injected, or a configuration provider failed to initialize.

Common Causes

Configuration file (appsettings.json) is missing or empty
Configuration provider not registered in Program.cs
Environment variables not set in the deployment
Config file not included in the Docker image build
Volume mount overwriting the config directory with an empty directory

How to Fix

Docker Compose

Verify the configuration file exists inside the container:

docker compose exec <service> ls -la /app/appsettings.json

If missing, check your Dockerfile to ensure the file is copied. Alternatively, mount it as a volume:

volumes:
  - ./config/appsettings.json:/app/appsettings.json:ro

Check that environment variables are being injected:

docker compose exec <service> printenv | grep -i stella

Bare Metal / systemd

Verify the config file exists in the application directory:

ls -la /opt/stellaops/appsettings.json
cat /opt/stellaops/appsettings.json | head -5

Check environment variables:

printenv | grep -i stella

Kubernetes / Helm

Check that the ConfigMap is mounted:

kubectl exec -it <pod> -- cat /app/appsettings.json
kubectl exec -it <pod> -- printenv | grep -i STELLA

Verify the ConfigMap exists:

kubectl get configmap stellaops-config -o yaml

Verification

stella doctor run --check check.core.config.loaded

check.core.config.required — verifies specific required settings are present
check.core.env.variables — verifies environment variables are set

See the Doctor reference for the full check catalog, CLI usage, and export bundles.