ATLAS.ini File

ATLAS.ini is a plain text file that sets ATLAS Data Server (ADS) configuration without using the GUI. Any setting normally changed in Tools > Options can be written into this file instead, which is what makes a scripted or automated ADS deployment possible. Values supplied by the file also become read-only in the interface, so a configuration can be applied consistently and left locked.

Version note

Keys, defaults and behaviour on this page reflect ADS 9.87.x. If you are running an older version, a default may differ from what is shown here.

Why use ATLAS.ini

Configuring ADS through the GUI is fine for a single machine, but it does not scale and it cannot be scripted. ATLAS.ini solves three problems:

• Repeatable deployment. One file, copied to each machine, replaces a long click-through of the Options dialog.
• Locked-down settings. A setting that comes from ATLAS.ini is displayed greyed out and cannot be edited or overwritten from the interface. This is useful for values that must not be changed.
• Multi-user and service accounts. The ADS installer writes its default settings under HKEY_CURRENT_USER for the installing user only. If ADS runs under a different account, those defaults never materialise.

Where ATLAS.ini lives

By default ADS looks for the file at:

McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS 9\Atlas.ini

Two things about this path:

• It is per-user. The file must be in the Documents folder of the account ADS runs under, not the account that installed it.
• Folder redirection applies. If Documents is redirected — most commonly by OneDrive Known Folder Move — the path follows the redirect, for example C:\Users\...\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS 9\Atlas.ini.

This PowerShell snippet writes the file to the correct location for the current user:

$dir = Join-Path ([Environment]::GetFolderPath('MyDocuments')) 'McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS 9'
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $dir | Out-Null
@'
[ADSAdvancedSettings]
EnableRemoteDataFeed = 1
'@ | Out-File (Join-Path $dir 'Atlas.ini') -Encoding ascii

Moving the file

The location can be changed with a registry value that holds the full path including the file name:

Registry key	Value	Type
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS\9.0\Preferences	ATLASIniFile	String

In the ATLAS Viewer this is exposed as Tools > Options > Standard. ADS has no equivalent control, so set it in the registry directly.

Two limits on relocating the file

ATLASIniFile is read from the registry only — it cannot be set from inside ATLAS.ini, because the file has not been located at the point it is needed.

A small number of settings are read very early during start-up, before the relocation is applied — including RemoteDataFeedEndpoint and the Bridge Service log path. If you relocate ATLAS.ini, those two are still taken from the default location. Unless you have a reason to move the file, leave it at the default path; if you must move it, set the Bridge Service values in the registry instead.

Unlike the ATLAS Viewer, ADS does not accept an .ini path on the command line. The default location and ATLASIniFile are the only two options.

How overrides are applied

Precedence

For every setting ADS reads, the order is:

1. ATLAS.ini — if the section and key are present, this value is used.
2. Registry — otherwise the value under the ADS registry key is used.
3. Built-in default — otherwise the shipped default is used, and is written into the registry.

A value that comes from ATLAS.ini is never copied into the registry, and ADS never writes back toATLAS.ini.

Settings from the file are read-only

When a setting is supplied by ATLAS.ini, ADS marks it read-only. In Tools > Options it appears greyed out, and attempts to change it are discarded. This is the quickest way to confirm a key has been picked up.

Changes require a restart

ATLAS.ini is read once per process and cached until ADS exits. Editing the file while ADS is running has no effect — restart ADS to apply changes.

Separately, many individual settings are themselves flagged as requiring a restart; these are marked in the Options reference.

File syntax

ATLAS.ini is a standard Windows INI file, read with the Win32 private profile functions. The rules follow from that.

Sections and keys

A section name is the registry sub-key, relative to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS\9.0. A key name is the registry value name. So this file:

[ADSAdvancedSettings]
LogFileFolder = D:\ATLASLogs

sets the same thing as the registry value LogFileFolder under HKCU\Software\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS\9.0\ADSAdvancedSettings.

• Section and key names are case-insensitive.
• Nested registry keys use a backslash in the section name, for example [ADSAdvancedSettings\RecorderSettings].
• A section header may appear only once per file. Repeating it means the later block is ignored.
• Comments start with a semicolon (;). A hash (#) is not a comment character and will be read as part of a value.
• Whitespace around = is trimmed, and surrounding double quotes are stripped.

Value types

Type	How to write it
String	Verbatim text, up to 1024 characters. Do not quote paths.
Number	Decimal only. Hexadecimal (0x…) and digit separators are not accepted.
Boolean	1 or 0.

true and false do not work

Boolean settings must be written as 1 or 0. The interface displays them as True/False, but the file is parsed numerically — true is read as 0, silently giving you the opposite of what you intended.

Save the file as ANSI/ASCII, not UTF-16. In PowerShell use -Encoding ascii; Out-File and > default to UTF-8, and Set-Content defaults to the system code page.

Values that cannot be set from the file

• -1 and -2. These two values are indistinguishable from "key not present", so a setting written as -1 is ignored and the registry or default value is used instead. Where a setting needs to be disabled, use the documented disable value (usually 0).
• Multi-string values. The function library lists under ADSLibrary (Defaults, Order, DefaultsAttrib) are REG_MULTI_SZ and have no INI representation. Set them in the registry.
• Binary values. Recorder session details are stored as a binary blob (see Recorder settings).
• Root-level values. A handful of values live directly under the ATLAS\9.0 key rather than in a sub-key, and cannot be reached from the file because a section name is required.
• HomeFolder. Read from the registry only.
• Environment variables. There is no expansion of %USERPROFILE% or any other variable — write literal absolute paths. Older sample files that use %USERPROFILE% are incorrect.

Sections reference

ADS reads four sections.

Section	Contains	Gate
[Preferences]	Folder and file paths	—
[ADSAdvancedSettings]	Everything in Tools > Options	—
[AtlasDataServer]	Setup > Configure Interfaces network settings	InitializeFromRegistry = 1
[ADSAdvancedSettings\RecorderSettings]	Recorder definitions	SetupRecordersFromRegistry = 1

[Preferences]

Paths used across ADS. These correspond to Tools > Options > Recorder Folders and to folders the installer seeds.

Key	Purpose
DataFolder	Root folder for recorded session data.
LocalFolder	Temporary/working folder.
WorkbookFolder	Workbook folder. Also supplies the default location of the server settings file, <WorkbookFolder>\AtlasServer.sbk.
ConfigFolder	Logging configuration folder.
CircuitsFolder	Circuit files.
BitmapsFolder	Bitmap files.
CustomDisplaysFolder	Custom display definitions.
FunctionLibraryFolder	Function library.
FunctionDataFolder	Function data.
FunctionDLLFolder	Function DLLs.
ExportJobFolder	Export job definitions.
DefaultConstantsFile	Default constants file.
SystemMonitor7BaseFolder	System Monitor base folder. Multiple paths may be separated with semicolons.
AncilliaryParametersFolders	Ancillary parameter folders, semicolon-separated. Note the spelling of this key — it contains a doubled l.
ParameterUnlockListDir	Parameter unlock list folder. Also passed to SQL Race as its unlock list search path.
CustomPGVFolder	Folder where the LDF recorder stores received PGV files.
DefaultSqlRaceConnection	Default SQL Race connection.
ATLASIniFile	Location of this file. Registry only — cannot be set here.

Note

HomeFolder is deliberately excluded — it is read from the registry only and ignores this file.

[ADSAdvancedSettings]

This is the main section and covers every setting on the Tools > Options tabs. Because there are roughly 200 of them, they are documented with their descriptions and defaults in the Options reference, which lists the ATLAS.ini key for each setting alongside its label in the interface.

[AtlasDataServer]

The network interface settings from Setup > Configure Interfaces > General.

Only read when InitializeFromRegistry is set

ADS normally loads these from the server settings workbook (.sbk). This section is ignored entirely unless InitializeFromRegistry = 1. There are also no built-in defaults here: a key you leave out is read as zero or empty, not as a sensible default. Set the whole group together.

Key	Type	Purpose
InitializeFromRegistry	Boolean	Must be 1 for the rest of this section to be read.
Stream	String	Data server name, as seen by clients.
Port	Number	Network port. The multicast port is implicitly Port + 1.
StatusPort	Number	Status port.
LocalIPBind	String	IP address of the network adapter to bind to.
MulticastIP	Number	Multicast address, stored as a packed number. See below.
TelemTTL	Number	Telemetry time to live, 0–10.
TelemMaxDataRate	Number	Telemetry maximum data rate in KB/s, 0–15000.
TelemBuffer	Number	Telemetry buffer in MB, 1–1024.
WireTTL	Number	Wirelink time to live.
WireMaxDataRate	Number	Wirelink maximum data rate in KB/s.
SendSessionConstantsToClients	Boolean	Corresponds to Use Server Constants on the Library tab.

MulticastIP is stored as a packed number rather than dotted-quad text, and the first octet must be in the range 224–239. Rather than calculating it, set it once in Setup > Configure Interfaces and read the stored value back — see Capturing a configuration.

Note

WireBuffer exists as a registry value and is written when settings are saved, but the wirelink buffer is fixed at 1 MB when read. Setting it has no effect.

[ADSAdvancedSettings\RecorderSettings]

Recorder definitions, so that a machine comes up with its recorders already configured.

Only read when SetupRecordersFromRegistry is set

Put SetupRecordersFromRegistry = 1 in [ADSAdvancedSettings] first, otherwise recorders are loaded from the workbook and this section is ignored.

With this enabled, ADS also saves recorders back to the registry when settings are saved. Any recorder in ATLAS.ini is re-applied on the next start, so recorders added through the interface will appear to be lost.

Key	Purpose
RecorderCount	Number of recorders to create.
Recorder<N>Type	Recorder type, N starting at 1. Must exactly match one of the strings below.
Recorder_<N>_NumberOfSettings	Number of sources this recorder has. See the warning below.
Recorder_<N>_0_<Property>	Per-recorder properties, for example Recorder_1_0_SessionDirectory.

Commonly used properties include AutoRecord, SessionDirectory, SessionName, SessionDestination, DataStream, DataSource, AppendSession, RecordOnlyToMemory, DetailsComeFrom, CarName, UnitName, SqlRaceConnectionIdentifier, RemoteDataServerIPAddress and RemoteDataServerPort.

SessionName supports the same substitutions as the Record dialog, such as %y%m%d%H%M%S for a timestamp or $vCar$ for a parameter value.

NumberOfSettings must match the recorder

Recorder_<N>_NumberOfSettings must equal the number of sources the recorder type actually has — 1 for a single-source recorder. If it does not match, the entire Recorder_<N>_0_* block is silently ignored and the recorder is created with default settings. Session detail blobs are also stored in binary form and cannot be expressed in the file, so drive naming through SessionName, SessionDirectory and DetailsComeFrom instead.

If in doubt, configure one recorder in the interface and read the values back, as described below.

Valid recorder type strings

Recorder<N>Type is matched against the recorder types registered by ADS, exactly and including spaces and capitalisation. Several are only registered if the corresponding licence option is present; if the string does not match, the recorder is skipped and Recorder Type: <name>, not found is written to the log.

Recorder<N>Type	Licence option required
File Telemetry	—
Generic Recorder	—
Remote Data Server	—
Remote Data Server Playback	—
Ethernet Multi-Session Offload	—
Data Server Telemetry	—
VTSRecorder	vTAG Server Recorder
DST Multi Source Recorder	Wide Band
Generic SQLRace Recorder	SQLRace read
Advanced Data Feed Recorder	Advanced Data Feed Recorder
TLM-Px Multi Source Recorder	TLM-Px Recorder

Note

CBR610 Multi Source Recorder and PiDB Multi Source Recorder are valid strings elsewhere in ATLAS but are not registered as ADS recorder types.

Worked examples

Enable the Bridge Service

The minimum file to turn on the Bridge Service and have ADS manage the process itself:

; <Documents>\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS 9\Atlas.ini
[ADSAdvancedSettings]
EnableRemoteDataFeed   = 1
LocalRemoteDataFeed    = 1
RemoteDataFeedEndpoint = [::1]:9697

To connect to a Bridge Service running on another machine instead, point the endpoint at it and let that machine own the process:

[ADSAdvancedSettings]
EnableRemoteDataFeed   = 1
LocalRemoteDataFeed    = 0
RemoteDataFeedEndpoint = bridge-host.example.com:9697

Relocate data and log folders

Moving recording and diagnostic output onto a dedicated data volume:

[Preferences]
DataFolder     = D:\ATLASData
WorkbookFolder = D:\ATLASData\Workbooks
ConfigFolder   = D:\ATLASData\Config

[ADSAdvancedSettings]
LogFileFolder             = E:\ATLASLogs
SettingsFile              = D:\ATLASData\Workbooks\AtlasServer.sbk
MinimumDiskSpace          = 2000
TempRecordingDirectory    = D:\ATLASData\Temp
MaxLogFileSizeMB          = 50

A complete unattended configuration

Network interfaces, one auto-starting recorder and the Bridge Service, all applied on first start:

; ADS configuration - applied at start-up, read-only in Tools > Options.
; Restart ADS after editing. Save as ANSI, not UTF-16.

[Preferences]
DataFolder     = D:\ATLASData
WorkbookFolder = D:\ATLASData\Workbooks

[ADSAdvancedSettings]
; --- diagnostics ---
LogFileFolder              = E:\ATLASLogs
MaxLogFileSizeMB           = 50
; --- Bridge Service ---
EnableRemoteDataFeed       = 1
LocalRemoteDataFeed        = 1
RemoteDataFeedEndpoint     = [::1]:9697
; --- gates for the two sections below ---
SetupRecordersFromRegistry = 1

[AtlasDataServer]
InitializeFromRegistry = 1
Stream                 = TrackADS1
Port                   = 5000
StatusPort             = 5002
LocalIPBind            = 10.20.0.5
MulticastIP            = 4009754848
TelemTTL               = 1
TelemMaxDataRate       = 500
TelemBuffer            = 20
WireTTL                = 1
WireMaxDataRate        = 500

[ADSAdvancedSettings\RecorderSettings]
RecorderCount                  = 1
Recorder1Type                  = Data Server Telemetry
Recorder_1_NumberOfSettings    = 1
Recorder_1_0_AutoRecord        = 1
Recorder_1_0_SessionDirectory  = D:\ATLASData\Telemetry
Recorder_1_0_SessionName       = %y%m%d%H%M%S
Recorder_1_0_SessionDestination = 0
Recorder_1_0_DetailsComeFrom   = 0

Tip

Take the MulticastIP value from a machine you have already configured rather than computing it. The value above is an example and will not be correct for your network.

Capturing a configuration from a configured machine

The most reliable way to build an ATLAS.ini — particularly for recorders and MulticastIP — is to configure one machine through the interface, then read the values back and transcribe them.

Configure ADS as required, close it so that settings are flushed, then export:

reg export "HKCU\Software\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS\9.0\ADSAdvancedSettings" ads-settings.reg

Or list a section's values to read them directly:

reg query "HKCU\Software\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS\9.0\AtlasDataServer"

Each value name becomes a key in the matching ATLAS.ini section, and each sub-key becomes a section with a backslash in its name. Remember that multi-string and binary values cannot be transcribed.

Checking that your file was read

ADS logs whether it found the file each time it starts. Look in ATLASWideLog.txt in the folder given by LogFileFolder:

ATLAS ini file found; C:\Users\jsmith\Documents\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS 9\Atlas.ini

If the file was not located, the same line reports ATLAS ini file is not found with the path that was tried — which tells you where ADS expected it.

Then confirm individual settings: open Tools > Options and check that the settings you supplied are greyed out. A setting that is still editable did not come from the file.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause
Nothing changed at all	ADS was not restarted, or the file is in a different account's Documents folder. Check the log line above.
Log says the file was not found	Wrong path, wrong file name, or Documents is redirected. The logged path is the one ADS tried.
A boolean behaves as if disabled	Written as true/false instead of 1/0.
A setting is still editable in Options	The section or key name does not match, or the value was rejected. Section names are the registry sub-key, key names the registry value name.
A whole section is ignored	Missing gate: InitializeFromRegistry for [AtlasDataServer], SetupRecordersFromRegistry for recorders.
A section appears partly applied	The section header is duplicated in the file; only the first block is read.
A recorder was not created	Recorder<N>Type does not exactly match a registered type, or its licence option is absent. The log records Recorder Type: <name>, not found.
A recorder has default settings	Recorder_<N>_NumberOfSettings does not match the recorder's source count, so the property block was skipped.
Values look garbled	The file was saved as UTF-16. Save as ANSI.
Bridge Service uses the wrong endpoint	ATLAS.ini was relocated with ATLASIniFile. Set RemoteDataFeedEndpoint in the registry, or move the file back to the default path.

Setting values in the registry instead

Every key described here is a registry value under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS\9.0, so a deployment script can write the registry directly:

$key = 'HKCU:\Software\McLaren Electronic Systems\ATLAS\9.0\ADSAdvancedSettings'
New-Item -Path $key -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name 'EnableRemoteDataFeed'   -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name 'LocalRemoteDataFeed'    -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name 'RemoteDataFeedEndpoint' -Value '[::1]:9697' -Type String

Use booleans and numbers as DWord and text as String.

Choose between the two approaches on this basis:

	ATLAS.ini	Registry
Settings remain editable in the interface	No — greyed out	Yes
Multi-string and binary values	Not supported	Supported
Applies per user	Yes, via that user's Documents folder	Yes, via that user's hive
Easy to copy between machines	Yes, one file	Requires a .reg export or script

Because it locks values and travels as a single file, ATLAS.ini is the better fit for deployment. Use the registry for the few things the file cannot express, and where operators still need to be able to change a setting.

The installer does not configure ADS

The ADS installer cannot apply configuration. It is a bootstrapper that installs prerequisites and then the ADS package, and it declares no variables that would let it pass settings through — so only the standard silent-install switches (/quiet, /passive, /log) apply, and none of them configure ADS.

Treat configuration as a separate step: install ADS, then write ATLAS.ini or the registry values, then start ADS.

See also

• Options reference — every ADS setting with its ATLAS.ini key, default and description
• Getting Started — installing and first-run setup
• Recorders — what each recorder type does
• RDS — Remote Data Server configuration