Manage Users/Authentication
When adding a new Etherpad pod, you need to set an admin password using the env var ADMIN_PASSWORD. This allows you to access the path /admin to manage the Etherpad pod. You can then add more users in /admin/settings by editing the users section of the JSON file.
By default, anyone can add new pads, but can’t list and find existing pads. If you need authentication for your Etherpad, set the env var REQUIRE_AUTHENTICATION to true and add a password for the user with username user. This will make the Etherpad instance private and only you can use it and add new pads.
The official Docker image we use has no real way of managing users. Editing the config isn’t an option because the image is configured with env vars and ships with a standard config file.
Env Vars and the Settings File
Etherpad’s settings page (/admin/settings), which edits settings.json, and env vars overlap. If an env var is set for a section of the settings, it replaces that whole section of the settings file. The two are not merged, so any values you set in the file for that section are ignored.
Installing Plugins
You can install plugins by visiting the admin interface under /admin/plugins.
Storing Images on S3
With the ep_images_extended plugin, you can store uploaded images in an S3-compatible bucket (Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Cloudflare R2, etc.). The configuration comes from two places: the AWS S3 library (the AWS_* vars) and the plugin itself (the EP__* vars). You need to set all of the following:
| Env var | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3 |
The S3 API endpoint of your storage provider. Leave empty for Amazon S3. | https://s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com |
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID |
The access key ID used to upload images to your bucket. | 003a1b2c3d4e5f60000000001 |
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY |
The secret key that goes with the access key ID. | K003xYz... |
EP__ep_images_extended__storage__bucket |
The name of the bucket where images are stored. | etherpad-images |
EP__ep_images_extended__storage__region |
The region of your bucket. Cloudflare R2 uses auto. |
eu-central-003 |
EP__ep_images_extended__storage__publicURL |
The base URL that pads use to load images from your bucket. It must end with a slash. | https://etherpad-images.s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com/ |