Description of the need
Since 7.50 Drupal has included a check that alerts you if there is a missing file, module or dependencies. We recently saw in a Forum post that, if you update modules by pushing them through git instead of using the UI, and if the update does not require a database update, you may not catch a missing dependency. For example, recently, Rules started depending on Entity Tokens. That update did not require any database update. So if you updated Rules by pushing it, or manually moving its folder into the modules folder, you may not be aware of the missing dependency, unless you either run update.php (which will alert you right away) or you install a new module via the UI (which performs that check).
See Drupal's record change and issue 1081266. This issue was mentioned in the Backdrop queue https://github.com/backdrop/backdrop-issues/issues/2013, and its checkbox was marked as complete, but in fact this feature was never ported to Backdrop.
Proposed solution
Crossport D7 issue 1081266
Recent comments
I have had a read of what Lando provides, and it's an excellent development tool, and it would solve the problem. But, I would prefer to find out why the problem is there in the first...
How often is the settings.php loaded.
Thanks for the info. I will give it a try...
How often is the settings.php loaded.
I use Lando (a wrapper for docker) and find settings changes happen straight away
How often is the settings.php loaded.