---
title: ConfigParser Files
description: In this blog post, we will explore the configparser module, its uses and how to read and write configuration files in a standard format
---

[DDBM Blog ](https://www.ddbm.com/blog)

# [ConfigParser Files](https://www.ddbm.com/blog/2023/05/02/configparser-files)

 Geschreven door [Atzmon Ben Binyamin](https://www.ddbm.com/blog/author/atzmon-ben-binyamin) | 2 May, 2023

Python is a powerful programming language that comes with many built-in libraries for various purposes. One of these libraries is `configparser`, which provides a way to read and write configuration files in a standard format. In this blog post, we will explore the `configparser` module and its uses with examples.

## What is Configparser?

`configparser` is a Python module that provides a way to read and write configuration files. These kind of files are typically used to store settings and options that are used by programs, such as database connection details, API keys, and other settings.

The `configparser` module provides a simple way to read and write configuration files in a standard format, which makes it easy to share configuration files between different programs or systems.

## How to use Configparser?

To use the `configparser` module in Python, you first need to import it into your code. ``Once you have imported the `configparser` module, you can use it to read and write configuration files.

Let’s see how to read a config file using `configparser`. Suppose we have a config file named `config.ini` that looks like this:

```
[database]host = localhostport = 5432user = johnpassword = secret
```

## Reading the configuration file

We can read this file using the following Python code:

```
import configparser

# Create a configparser object
config = configparser.ConfigParser()

# Read the configuration file
config.read('config.ini')

# Get the value of a setting
host = config.get('database', 'host')
port = config.getint('database', 'port')
user = config.get('database', 'user')
password = config.get('database', 'password')

# Print the values
print(f'Host: {host}')
print(f'Port: {port}')
print(f'User: {user}')
print(f'Password: {password}')
```

This code reads the `config.ini` file and retrieves the values of the host, port, user, and password settings using the `get()` method. The `getint()` method is used to retrieve the value of the port setting as an integer.

Here’s an example of how to write a configuration file using `configparser`. Suppose we want to create a file named `new_config.ini` with the following settings:

```
[api] 
key = abcdef1234567890 
secret = secret_key_here
```

## Writing a configuration file

We can create this file using the following Python code:

```
import configparser

# Create a configparser object
config = configparser.ConfigParser()

# Set the values of the settings
config['api'] = {
    'key': 'abcdef1234567890',
    'secret': 'secret_key_here'
}

# Write the configuration file
with open('new_config.ini', 'w') as configfile:
    config.write(configfile)
```

This code creates a new `configparser` object and sets the values of the `key` and `secret` settings in the `api` section using dictionary-like syntax. The `write()` method is used to write the configuration file to disk.

## Conclusion

The `configparser` module provides a simple way to read and write configuration files in Python. They are a great way to store settings and options that are used by programs, and using `configparser` makes it easy to share them between different programs or systems.

[Volledig bericht weergeven](https://www.ddbm.com/blog/2023/05/02/configparser-files)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Atzmon Ben Binyamin"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-01-05T10:53:35.269Z",
  "datePublished" : "2023-05-02T15:17:04Z",
  "headline" : "ConfigParser Files",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 168,
    "url" : "https://go.theinformationlab.nl/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/py-img-2.jpg",
    "width" : 300
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.ddbm.com/blog/2023/05/02/configparser-files",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "DDBM Blog"
  }
}
```