Configuration

Configure imagery providers, caching behavior, and performance settings.

XEarthLayer is configured through an INI file located at ~/.xearthlayer/config.ini. This page covers all available settings.

Configuration File

Create the default configuration file:

xearthlayer init

For first-time users, running xearthlayer setup is recommended instead. The setup wizard will create the configuration file and guide you through detecting your X-Plane installation and configuring optimal settings for your hardware. See Getting Started for details.

You can view and modify settings using the CLI:

Show config file path:

xearthlayer config path

List all settings:

xearthlayer config list

Get a specific setting:

xearthlayer config get provider.name

Set a setting:

xearthlayer config set provider.name bing

Imagery Providers

XEarthLayer supports multiple satellite imagery providers:

Provider	Config Name	API Key Required	Notes
Bing Maps	`bing`	No	Recommended, good global coverage
Google GO2	`go2`	No	Free, no API key needed
Apple Maps	`apple`	No	High quality, auto-acquires tokens
ArcGIS	`arcgis`	No	Free tier available
MapBox	`mapbox`	Yes (freemium)	Good quality, free tier
USGS	`usgs`	No	US only, government imagery

[provider]
name = bing

Cache Settings

Control memory and disk cache behavior:

[cache]
# Memory cache size (in bytes, default 2 GB)
# Depending on system, recommend 15+ GB if 32 GB of system memory is available
memory_size = 15 GB

# Disk cache size (in bytes, default 20 GB)
# Having disk cache greater than 20 GB will reduce amount of repeat network requests
disk_size = 20 GB

# Disk cache directory
# Recommend using a drive separate from your main system, cache writes are high
directory = ~/.xearthlayer/cache

# Disk I/O profile: auto, hdd, ssd, nvme
disk_io_profile = auto

Performance Tuning

For systems with different hardware profiles:

Disk type	Config Name	Description
Automatic detection	`auto`	On linux, uses device queue to detect whether to use `hdd` or `ssd`
Hard Disk Drive	`hdd`	Use for spinning platter hard disk drives
Solid State Drive	`ssd`	Use for SATA connected solid state drives
Non-Volatile Memory Express	`nvme`	Use for PCIe attached NVMe SSD storage. Only use if you are confident in your decision as performance will be impacted if drive cannot keep up with the requests

[cache]
# Unless you know what you are doing, leave this as auto
disk_io_profile = auto

Auto-detection (Linux): When set to auto, XEarthLayer detects the storage type by checking /sys/block/<device>/queue/ rotational. If detection fails, it defaults to the ssd profile as a safe middle-ground

Texture Settings

DDS texture compression setting. Unless you know what you are doing, do not change this to bc3.

[texture]
# Compression format: bc1 (smaller, no alpha)
format = bc1