Artefacts directory

Profinity stores its writable data, such as configuration, profiles, plugins, and logs, in a single artefacts directory, which is separate from the install directory that holds the program files. The path matters when you upgrade from 2.2, deploy on Linux as a service, or mount Docker volumes.

Default locations

Platform	Default artefacts path
Windows	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Prohelion\Profinity`
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Prohelion/Profinity`
Linux (2.3 and later)	`/var/lib/prohelion/profinity`

On Linux, Profinity 2.2 stored data in ~/.local/share/Prohelion/Profinity. From 2.3 the default is /var/lib/prohelion/profinity, and Profinity moves existing data there automatically on first start unless PROFINITY_HOME is set.

Layout

Everything under the root uses the same layout on every platform, and the subfolders use lowercase names on every platform because Linux file systems are case-sensitive.

Subfolder	Contents
`config/`	`config.yaml`, `security.yaml`, `plugins.yaml`, `custom.yaml`
`profiles/`	Profile and component YAML, dashboards, scripts
`plugins/`	User-installed DLL plugin folders
`logs/`	File logs when enabled
`can_bus_logs/`	CAN bus logs, with `replay/` and `archive/` beneath it
`tag_logs/`	Tag logs
`license/`, `certificates/`, `themes/`, `webroot/`	Licence file, generated and uploaded certificates, themes, and web content

The Linux installer pre-creates only config/, profiles/, plugins/, and logs/, and Profinity creates the other folders on demand. Earlier releases used capitalised names (Config, Config.yaml, Profiles, Logs), and the first start of 2.3 renames them to the lowercase forms. This documentation uses the lowercase names throughout.

Move the directory with PROFINITY_HOME

Set the environment variable PROFINITY_HOME to the full path of the artefacts root to run several Profinity instances on one host, to use a staging or test layout outside the default path, or to match a non-standard mount root in a Docker or custom image. Give each instance its own PROFINITY_HOME and its own HTTP and HTTPS ports. For example, in a Linux shell:

export PROFINITY_HOME=/var/lib/prohelion-staging/profinity

Automatic migration on startup

On the first start after you upgrade to 2.3, Profinity copies data from the older locations below into the artefacts directory, renames Config, Profiles, and Logs to lowercase, and removes an old folder once every file is present at the new location. A locked or offline file does not stop Profinity from starting, and migration resumes from where it stopped on the next restart. The Windows desktop application shows a progress window during migration, and on every host the ADMIN > Logs page lists a message for each file that moved.

Platform	Older locations that Profinity migrates
Windows and macOS	`~/Documents/Prohelion/Profinity`, `~/Prohelion/Profinity`, and the same folder under the application-data location with the other casing (`prohelion/profinity`)
Linux	`~/Documents/Prohelion/Profinity`, `~/Prohelion/Profinity`, `~/.local/share/Prohelion/Profinity` (the 2.2 location), `/var/lib/Prohelion/Profinity`, and `/var/lib/profinity/Prohelion/Profinity`

Migration does not run when PROFINITY_HOME is set

When PROFINITY_HOME is set, Profinity does not copy data from the older locations, so a custom root is never filled from the default install. Copy any data you need into the custom root yourself, including for Docker deployments that set PROFINITY_HOME. The rename of capitalised folders (Config, Profiles, Logs) to lowercase still runs under any root.

Back up and restore

Back up the artefacts directory before every upgrade, and keep config/ (including security.yaml), profiles/, license/, and certificates/ in every backup. Stop Profinity before you copy or restore the folders, restore by replacing those folders, and start Profinity again.

Troubleshooting

The profile is empty after an upgrade: migration did not find your data. Check ADMIN > Logs for migration messages, and if PROFINITY_HOME is set, copy the old data across yourself or unset the variable.
Linux reports a permission error: the account that runs Profinity does not own the artefacts directory. Give it ownership with chown on the artefacts tree, because /var/lib needs root to create the folder, which is then handed to the service user.
Two instances share one configuration: give each its own PROFINITY_HOME and its own HTTP and HTTPS ports.

The Linux service layout and launcher are described in Run Profinity as a Linux service, and Docker volume mounts in Install Profinity with Docker.