Default Locale

OpenPanel is fully localization-ready, but currently ships only with English (en) as the default language. Additional languages can be installed by the System Administrator from OpenAdmin → Settings → Locales, and they will become immediately available in the user interface.

If your preferred locale isn’t available yet, you can help by contributing a translation: 👉 OpenPanel Translations on GitHub

Setting the Default Locale​

In OpenPanel, there are five different sources that determine which locale is applied to a user. They are checked in the following priority order:

1. Session Locale​

When a user visits OpenPanel, the system first checks the session for a stored locale. A session locale is created when the user logs in. For example, if the user selects 'de' (German) on the login page, that locale is set for the current session.

Note: This setting overrides all other locale sources.

2. User-Specific File​

After logging in, users can change their preferred language — if the locale module and feature are enabled for them. Navigate to: OpenPanel → Account → Change Language (Docs link) - this view lists all languages installed by the Administrator. The user’s chosen locale overrides their browser settings and the system default.

The user’s preference is stored in a per-user file:

/home/<context>/locale

3. Browser Best Match​

If the user hasn’t set a locale yet, OpenPanel checks the browser’s Accept-Language header. If the preferred language is installed on the server, it will be temporarily applied for that session.

*NOTE: This only affects the current session** and does not persist as a user preference. It overrides the Administrator’s default locale for that session only.

Example header:

Accept-Language: es-ES,es;q=0.9

4. Default Locale​

The Administrator can set a global default locale by creating a configuration file at:

/etc/openpanel/openpanel/default_locale

For example, to set Spanish (es) as the default:

echo 'es' > /etc/openpanel/openpanel/default_locale

5. Fallback Locale​

If no other locale setting is found, OpenPanel defaults to English (en), which is included by default.

Checking Which Locale Is Active​

To verify which locale is being used for a user, you can temporarily enable developer mode and check the logs.

1. Enable dev_mode:

   opencli config update dev_mode on
   

2. Repeat the user action in the browser.

3. Tail the logs:

   docker logs -f openpanel
   

Look for log lines similar to:

APP - Using locale..