Configuration file

A lot of things can be changed in ManicTimeServerSettings.json configuration file. Most common thing which you will change is connection strings to the database if you use MS SQL or PostgreSQL database engines. But there are many more settings. You can see all possible settings in

[ManicTimeServer folder]/Docs/ManicTimeServerSettings.Sample.json

By default, you will find ManicTimeServerSettings.json file in server's data folder Windows

c:\ProgramData\ManicTime\Server\ManicTimeServerSettings.json

Linux

[ManicTimeServer folder]/[Data]/ManicTimeServerSettings.json

On Docker, if you follow our example, your data folder will be in:

/var/lib/manictimeserver/Data

It is possible that the file is not in the folder if you use all the defaults. So for example if you use SQLite database, if you use port 8080, which are all default values. If this happens, just create file ManicTimeServerSettings.json and put it in server's data folder.

You must always restart the server, after you make changes to the file.

Outbound connections

By default ManicTime Server checks for a new ManicTime Server version.

To disable this outbound request, add this to ManicTimeServerSettings.json:

{
  "automaticVersionCheck": {
    "enabled": false
  }
}

Store screenshots in Azure Blob storage

By default, ManicTime Server stores screenshots on the local disk, in the server's data folder. You can store them in Azure Blob storage instead. From version 2026.3, all server installations include the Azure Blob storage provider.

Switch to Azure Blob storage

  1. In the Azure portal, open your storage account. Under Security + networking -> Access keys, copy the connection string.

  2. Stop the ManicTime Server service, so that the server does not write new screenshots while you switch.

  3. If the server already has screenshots, copy them to the blob container. See Move existing screenshots.

  4. Add these settings to ManicTimeServerSettings.json:

    {
  "screenshots": {
    "storage": {
      "provider": "AzureBlob",
      "connectionString": "[connection string of your storage account]",
      "containerName": "screenshots"
    },
    "dir": ""
  }
}
    • provider - set it to AzureBlob.
    • connectionString - the connection string of your Azure storage account.
    • containerName - the name of the blob container for screenshots. If the container does not exist, the server creates it.
    • dir - keep it empty. The server then stores screenshots at the top level of the container.

  5. Start the ManicTime Server service.

  6. Check that it works. In Personal -> Tag time, open a day with screenshots and check that the screenshots show. Then check that new screenshots appear.

  7. When everything works, you can delete the old screenshot folder.

Move existing screenshots

The server does not move screenshots by itself. When you switch to Azure Blob storage, the server shows only the screenshots that are in the blob container. To keep the old screenshots, copy them to the container while the server is stopped.

  1. Find the screenshot folder of the server. It is the Screenshots folder in the server's data folder:

    • Installed server: C:\ProgramData\ManicTime\Server\Data\Screenshots
    • Portable server: Data\Screenshots in the server's folder, for example X:\ManicTime\Servers\manictimeserver-portable\manictimeserver\Data\Screenshots

    If you changed the screenshot folder of the server, use that folder.

  2. Copy the contents of the screenshot folder to the top level of the blob container. Copy what is inside the folder, not the folder itself, and keep the folder structure. The server finds each screenshot by its path inside the screenshot folder.

You can copy the files with Azure Storage Explorer, or with the Azure CLI. With the Azure CLI, first create the container if it does not exist yet, then upload the folder:

az storage container create --name screenshots --connection-string "<connection string>"
az storage blob upload-batch --connection-string "<connection string>" --destination screenshots --source "C:\ProgramData\ManicTime\Server\Data\Screenshots" --max-connections 8
  • --destination - the name of the blob container, the same as containerName in the settings.
  • --source - the screenshot folder of the server.
  • --max-connections - the number of files that upload at the same time. A higher number makes a large upload faster.

The upload can take a long time if the server has many screenshots. Start the server only after the upload is finished.