High-Performance-IO · marcoSanti · Feb 21, 2026 · Feb 20, 2026 · Feb 21, 2026 · Feb 21, 2026
diff --git a/capiocl/configuration.h b/capiocl/configuration.h
@@ -21,10 +21,14 @@ struct capiocl::configuration::defaults {
     static ConfigurationEntry DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_PORT;
     /// @brief Multicast monitor delay before following operation
     static ConfigurationEntry DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_DELAY;
+    /// @brief Enable multicast monitor by default
+    static ConfigurationEntry DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_ENABLED;
     /// @brief Multicast monitor homenode IP
     static ConfigurationEntry DEFAULT_MONITOR_HOMENODE_IP;
     /// @brief Multicast monitor homenode PORT
     static ConfigurationEntry DEFAULT_MONITOR_HOMENODE_PORT;
+    /// @brief Enable File system monitor by default
+    static ConfigurationEntry DEFAULT_MONITOR_FS_ENABLED;
 };
 
 /// @brief Load configuration and store it from a CAPIO-CL TOML configuration file
@@ -47,15 +51,19 @@ class capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfiguration {
     void set(const ConfigurationEntry &entry);
 
   public:
-    explicit CapioClConfiguration();
     ~CapioClConfiguration() = default;
 
     /**
-     * Load a configuiration from a TOML file
+     * Load a configuration from a TOML file
      * @param path
      */
     void load(const std::filesystem::path &path);
 
+    /**
+     * Load default values for the configuration
+     */
+    void loadDefaults();
+
     /**
      * Get a string value
      * @param key key of option to get

diff --git a/doxygen/configuration.md b/doxygen/configuration.md
@@ -18,13 +18,15 @@ The configuration file uses a structured namespace under the top-level table `mo
 
 Available configuration parameters:
 
-| Key                              | Type     | Default        | Description                                                                                  |
-|----------------------------------|----------|----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-| `monitor.mcast.commit.ip`        | string   | `224.224.224.1` | Multicast IP address used for commit messages                                                |
-| `monitor.mcast.commit.port`      | integer  | `12345`         | UDP port for commit messages                                                                  |
-| `monitor.mcast.delay_ms`         | integer  | `300`           | Artificial delay (in milliseconds) inserted before sending multicast messages. Useful for debugging or simulating slower networks. |
-| `monitor.mcast.homenode.ip`      | string   | `224.224.224.2` | IP address of the home node for monitoring operations                                         |
-| `monitor.mcast.homenode.port`    | integer  | `12345`         | Port associated with the home node monitoring endpoint                                        |
+| Key                           | Type    | Default         | Description                                                                                                                        |
+|-------------------------------|---------|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `monitor.filesystem.enabled`  | boolean | `false`         | Enable FileSystem commit monitor                                                                                                   |
+| `monitor.mcast.enabled`       | boolean | `false`         | Enable Multicast commit monitor                                                                                                    |
+| `monitor.mcast.commit.ip`     | string  | `224.224.224.1` | Multicast IP address used for commit messages                                                                                      |
+| `monitor.mcast.commit.port`   | integer | `12345`         | UDP port for commit messages                                                                                                       |
+| `monitor.mcast.delay_ms`      | integer | `300`           | Artificial delay (in milliseconds) inserted before sending multicast messages. Useful for debugging or simulating slower networks. |
+| `monitor.mcast.homenode.ip`   | string  | `224.224.224.2` | IP address of the home node for monitoring operations                                                                              |
+| `monitor.mcast.homenode.port` | integer | `12345`         | Port associated with the home node monitoring endpoint                                                                             |
 
 ---
 
@@ -34,7 +36,10 @@ Below is a complete example of a `config.toml` file:
 
     # Example CAPIO-CL TOML configuration
 
+    monitor.filesystem.enabled = true    
+
     [monitor.mcast]
+    enabled = true
 
     # Multicast settings for commit messages
     commit.ip   = "224.224.224.1"
@@ -52,10 +57,12 @@ Below is a complete example of a `config.toml` file:
 ## How CAPIO-CL Uses These Settings
 
 ### `commit.ip` and `commit.port`
+
 These fields define where CAPIO-CL sends **commit broadcast messages**.  
 Commit messages are used for consistency coordination across distributed nodes.
 
 ### `delay_ms`
+
 A small configurable delay may help with:
 
 - debugging message-ordering issues,
@@ -65,5 +72,6 @@ A small configurable delay may help with:
 A value of `0` means no delay.
 
 ### `homenode.ip` and `homenode.port`
+
 These define the **central monitoring endpoint** (the “home node”).  
 CAPIO-CL uses this endpoint to coordinate monitoring metadata and cluster-wide communication.
diff --git a/src/Engine.cpp b/src/Engine.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <fnmatch.h>
+#include <memory>
 #include <sstream>
 
 #include "capiocl.hpp"
@@ -762,18 +763,40 @@ bool capiocl::engine::Engine::operator==(const capiocl::engine::Engine &other) c
 void capiocl::engine::Engine::loadConfiguration(const std::string &path) {
     configuration.load(path);
 
-    monitor.registerMonitorBackend(new monitor::MulticastMonitor(configuration));
-    monitor.registerMonitorBackend(new monitor::FileSystemMonitor());
+    std::string multicast_monitor_enabled, fs_monitor_enabled;
+
+    try {
+        configuration.getParameter("monitor.mcast.enabled", &multicast_monitor_enabled);
+    } catch (...) {
+        multicast_monitor_enabled = "false";
+    }
+
+    if (multicast_monitor_enabled == "true") {
+        monitor.registerMonitorBackend(new monitor::MulticastMonitor(configuration));
+    } else {
+        printer::print(printer::CLI_LEVEL_WARNING, "Skipping registration of  MulticastMonitor");
+    }
+
+    try {
+        configuration.getParameter("monitor.filesystem.enabled", &fs_monitor_enabled);
+    } catch (...) {
+        fs_monitor_enabled = "false";
+    }
+
+    if (fs_monitor_enabled == "true") {
+        monitor.registerMonitorBackend(new monitor::FileSystemMonitor());
+    } else {
+        printer::print(printer::CLI_LEVEL_WARNING, "Skipping registration of  FileSystemMonitor");
+    }
 }
 void capiocl::engine::Engine::useDefaultConfiguration() {
+    configuration.loadDefaults();
 
-    const auto def_config = configuration::CapioClConfiguration();
-
-    monitor.registerMonitorBackend(new monitor::MulticastMonitor(def_config));
+    // TODO: add a vector with registered instances of backends to avoid multiple instantiations
+    monitor.registerMonitorBackend(new monitor::MulticastMonitor(configuration));
     monitor.registerMonitorBackend(new monitor::FileSystemMonitor());
 }
 
 void capiocl::engine::Engine::startApiServer(const std::string &address, const int port) {
-    webapi_server = std::unique_ptr<webapi::CapioClWebApiServer>(
-        new webapi::CapioClWebApiServer(this, address, port));
+    webapi_server = std::make_unique<webapi::CapioClWebApiServer>(this, address, port);
 }
diff --git a/src/configuration.cpp b/src/configuration.cpp
@@ -5,8 +5,9 @@
 #include "capiocl/printer.h"
 #include "toml++/toml.hpp"
 
-void flatten_table(const toml::table &tbl, std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> &map,
-                   const std::string &prefix = "") {
+void load_config_to_memory(const toml::table &tbl,
+                           std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> &map,
+                           const std::string &prefix = "") {
     for (const auto &[key, value] : tbl) {
         std::string full_key;
         if (prefix.empty()) {
@@ -16,23 +17,31 @@ void flatten_table(const toml::table &tbl, std::unordered_map<std::string, std::
         }
 
         if (value.is_table()) {
-            flatten_table(*value.as_table(), map, full_key);
+            load_config_to_memory(*value.as_table(), map, full_key);
         } else {
             if (value.is_string()) {
                 map[full_key] = value.as_string()->get();
+            } else if (value.is_boolean()) {
+                if (value.as_boolean()->get()) {
+                    map[full_key] = "true";
+                } else {
+                    map[full_key] = "false";
+                }
             } else {
                 map[full_key] = std::to_string(value.as_integer()->get());
             }
         }
     }
 }
 
-capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfiguration::CapioClConfiguration() {
+void capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfiguration::loadDefaults() {
     this->set(defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_IP);
     this->set(defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_PORT);
     this->set(defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_HOMENODE_IP);
     this->set(defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_HOMENODE_PORT);
     this->set(defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_DELAY);
+    this->set(defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_FS_ENABLED);
+    this->set(defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_ENABLED);
 }
 
 void capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfiguration::set(const std::string &key, std::string value) {
@@ -54,7 +63,9 @@ void capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfiguration::load(const std::filesystem::p
     } catch (const toml::parse_error &err) {
         throw CapioClConfigurationException(err.what());
     }
-    flatten_table(tbl, config);
+
+    // copy into the local configuration the parameter from the toml config file
+    load_config_to_memory(tbl, config);
 }
 
 void capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfiguration::getParameter(const std::string &key,

diff --git a/src/defaults.cpp b/src/defaults.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include "capiocl//configuration.h"
+#include "capiocl/configuration.h"
 
 ConfigurationEntry capiocl::configuration::defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_IP{
     "monitor.mcast.commit.ip", "224.224.224.1"};
@@ -14,3 +14,9 @@ ConfigurationEntry capiocl::configuration::defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_HOMENODE_IP
 
 ConfigurationEntry capiocl::configuration::defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_HOMENODE_PORT{
     "monitor.mcast.homenode.port", "12345"};
+
+ConfigurationEntry capiocl::configuration::defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_MCAST_ENABLED{
+    "monitor.mcast.enabled", "true"};
+
+ConfigurationEntry capiocl::configuration::defaults::DEFAULT_MONITOR_FS_ENABLED{
+    "monitor.filesystem.enabled", "true"};
diff --git a/tests/cpp/test_configuration.hpp b/tests/cpp/test_configuration.hpp
@@ -38,4 +38,24 @@ TEST(CONFIGURATION_SUITE_NAME, TestFailureParsingTOML) {
                  capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfigurationException);
 }
 
+TEST(CONFIGURATION_SUITE_NAME, testNoBackendLoaded) {
+    capiocl::engine::Engine engine(false);
+    engine.loadConfiguration("/tmp/capio_cl_tomls/sample2.toml");
+
+    EXPECT_FALSE(engine.isCommitted("test"));
+}
+
+TEST(CONFIGURATION_SUITE_NAME, testNoBackendLoadedWithExplicitNoLoadOption) {
+    capiocl::configuration::CapioClConfiguration config;
+    config.load("/tmp/capio_cl_tomls/sample3.toml");
+
+    std::string value;
+    config.getParameter("monitor.mcast.enabled", &value);
+    EXPECT_TRUE("false" == value);
+    value = "";
+
+    config.getParameter("monitor.filesystem.enabled", &value);
+    EXPECT_TRUE("false" == value);
+}
+
 #endif // CAPIO_CL_TEST_CONFIGURATION_HPP
diff --git a/tests/tomls/sample1.toml b/tests/tomls/sample1.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
+[monitor.filesystem]
+enabled = true
+
 [monitor.mcast]
 delay_ms = 300
+enabled = true
 
 [monitor.mcast.commit]
 ip = "224.224.224.3"

diff --git a/tests/tomls/sample2.toml b/tests/tomls/sample2.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+[monitor.mcast]
+delay_ms = 300
+
+[monitor.mcast.commit]
+ip = "224.224.224.3"
+port = 11223
+
+[monitor.mcast.homenode]
+ip = "224.224.224.4"
+port = 22334
diff --git a/tests/tomls/sample3.toml b/tests/tomls/sample3.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[monitor]
+filesystem.enabled = false
+mcast.enabled = false