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Blazegraph is the RDF triple store that Islandora uses to power SPARQL queries and linked data indexing. In an Islandora stack, Blazegraph runs as a Docker service alongside Drupal and Fedora. The blazegraph component controls whether Blazegraph is included in your stack. It defaults to enabled. Supported dispositions:
DispositionMeaning
enabledKeep Blazegraph and triplestore indexing in the standard Islandora stack.
disabledRemove the triplestore service and suppress triplestore indexing integrations.

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Check current state

sitectl component describe
The output shows whether blazegraph is on, off, or drifted.

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Enable Blazegraph

sitectl set blazegraph enabled
This adds the Blazegraph service and blazegraph-data volume back to docker-compose.yml, enables ALPACA_TRIPLESTORE_INDEXER_ENABLED, restores Drupal’s default triplestore namespace, and restores the managed Drupal triplestore action config.

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Disable Blazegraph

sitectl set blazegraph disabled
This removes the Blazegraph service and volume from docker-compose.yml, disables Alpaca triplestore indexing, clears Drupal’s default triplestore namespace, and removes managed Drupal triplestore action config. A future docker compose up will not start Blazegraph.
Disabling Blazegraph removes the service from the Compose project definition. Any RDF data stored in Blazegraph is not deleted from disk immediately, but it will not be preserved through volume lifecycle commands. Back up your Blazegraph data before disabling on a site with content.

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Create flags

Choose the triplestore shape during sitectl create isle: 
sitectl create isle --blazegraph on
sitectl create isle --blazegraph off

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When to disable Blazegraph

Blazegraph is resource-intensive. Consider disabling it for:
  • Minimal development stacks — if you’re working on Drupal code that doesn’t involve SPARQL or linked data
  • Stacks that have replaced Blazegraph — some Islandora installations have moved to alternative triple stores; if yours has, you can disable Blazegraph here to remove it from the Compose project
If you’re running a standard Islandora installation and using features that rely on RDF queries, Blazegraph should be on.