[HELP] ThingsBoard Gateway (v3.8.3) ignores mapped tb_gateway.yaml and environment variables, reverts to thingsboard.cloud

[WanSu92]

issue
I am running the ThingsBoard Gateway in a Docker environment. Despite successfully mounting my custom tb_gateway.yaml and setting the TB_GATEWAY_CONFIG_FILE environment variable, the gateway ignores the local configuration and attempts to connect to thingsboard.cloud.

Environment

• Gateway Version: 3.8.3

• Deployment: Docker Compose

• Platform: Windows

Diagnostics (Proof of Configuration):
I have verified that the configuration file is present and the environment variable is correctly configured inside the container:

1. File Existence (docker exec ... ls -l):

-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 197 Jun 29 09:20 /thingsboard_gateway/config/tb_gateway.yaml

2. File Content (docker exec ... cat):

YAML
thingsboard:
host: "thingsboard-ce"
port: 1883
security:
accessToken: "token"
connectors:

• name: BACnet Connector
  type: bacnet
  configuration: bacnet.json

3. Environment Variable (docker exec ... printenv):
   TB_GATEWAY_CONFIG_FILE=/thingsboard_gateway/config/tb_gateway.yaml

Observed Logs:
Despite the above, the logs show:
[tb_client.py] - __send_connect - 477 - Sending connect to thingsboard.cloud:1883
[tb_device_mqtt.py] - _on_connect - 616 - Connection failed with result code 134 (Bad user name or password)

Question: Is there an additional step or specific constraint in v3.8.3 preventing the gateway from consuming the provided configuration file path, even when explicitly set via environment variables?

[DevNinja90]

We ran into this issue as well.

In the end, I could not find clear documentation explaining how this is handled, or exactly when a new tb_gateway.yaml file is created.

From what I observed, the file may be overwritten even if it already exists. I found some hints about a first-run file: if that file exists, a new tb_gateway.yaml is not created. (Can' remember what it is called, or where it is)

You could try starting the Docker container and inspecting the root filesystem under /thingsboard_gateway/ to check whether a first-run file is present.

Currently, we authenticate via environment variables and use Remote Config exclusively. That setup works as expected.