By design, Caddy compares the new configuration with the old one when reloads occur. If the old config is 100% identical to the new one, it skips the reload operation because there is no need to change the config.
📝 Caddy compares the modified JSON, not the initial Caddyfile (or any other adapter configuration). Hence, any comments, snippets (including their names and structure), and similar elements are exclusively understood by the Caddyfile adapter. Alterations to snippet names or comments do not qualify as modifications in the resulting JSON configuration.
Thus, modifying a line within a custom imported WAF configuration file will have no impact on Caddy's JSON configuration, which will remain unchanged. As an example, consider the following lines within your Caddyfile configuration:
coraza_waf {
directives `
Include /path/to/config.conf
`
}In this scenario, modifying lines in /path/to/config.conf will not alter the Caddy configuration itself. Consequently, any added or removed rules will not be recognized by the module.
A configuration reload can be enforced by utilizing caddy reload --force or, in case you are using APIs, by specifying the Cache-Control: must-revalidate header. This forces the reload process regardless of whether any modifications were made. Further details can be found in the official Caddy documentation here.