The first thing A-Shell does upon being launched is look for its main configuration file. By convention, the configuration file is called miame.ini, though in keeping with the UNIX convention, the filename is given in lower case, ("miame.ini") on both UNIX and Windows system.

Unless overridden via a command line switch, the location of the configuration file is given by the MIAME environment variable. This variable is generally defined in a system configuration file, such as AUTOEXEC.BAT or /etc/profile, though may be defined at any stage using the appropriate system command, as shown in the following examples:

MIAME=/vm/miame; export MIAME    (UNIX)

The actual pathnames used may be changed of course, but it is recommended that the MIAME directory is made a subdirectory of /vm (to enable multiple virtual A-Shell machines to be configured), and the parent of the directories which correspond to the devices where the application files are stored.

A-Shell itself allows the location and name of the configuration file to be overridden with the -i switch. This is particularly useful, and is standard procedure, for A-Shell/Windows, since it enables a desktop icon in the program manager to be configured with properties to auto-start A-Shell without the need to set an environment variable in AUTOEXEC.BAT or elsewhere. For example:

ashell -i /vm/miame/miame.ini   (UNIX)

c:\vm\miame\bin\ashw32.exe –i c:\vm\miame\miame.ini   (Windows)

If the location of the configuration file is given by the MIAME environment variable, then the file must be called miame.ini. If it is given via the -i switch, then it may have any valid filename.