# How to set config.txt vars without fleet/device cloud configuration

**URL:** <https://forums.balena.io/t/how-to-set-config-txt-vars-without-fleet-device-cloud-configuration/5423>\
**Category:** Product support\
**Created:** [February 25, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/how-to-set-config-txt-vars-without-fleet-device-cloud-configuration/5423 "2019-02-25T00:26:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

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**Author:** ![richbayliss](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/richbayliss/32/1054_2.png) [@richbayliss](https://forums.balena.io/u/richbayliss)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/how-to-set-config-txt-vars-without-fleet-device-cloud-configuration/5423/5 "2019-02-26T09:55:19Z")

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@jacobrosenthal

So you have the following options for running balenaOS;

- use balenaOS standalone, without associating it to a balenaCloud application
- use balenaOS in tandem with a balenaCloud application

If you use it as a standalone, then you can change the values in `config.txt` and they should persist.

If you use it in tandem with a balenaCloud application then the supervisor will ensure that the device configuration state matches whatever is held in the cloud. So if you change the `config.txt` file then the supervisor will overwrite those changes.

If you would like to keep your configuration in your code repo, then you could add a container to your compose file which has access to the API and sets the `device_config_variables` for the specific device it is running on. Details on accessing the API can be found here:

- label to expose API key: [https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/develop/multicontainer/#labels](https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/develop/multicontainer/#labels)
- calling the API: [https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/api/overview/](https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/api/overview/)
- config related resource: [https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/api/resources/device\_config\_variable/](https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/api/resources/device_config_variable/)

I hope you find this useful.

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