Environment Variables

Overview

Environment variables in Dokploy allow you to:

• Define configuration once and reuse it
• Share values across multiple services
• Reference values from within the same service
• Centrally manage sensitive information

Defining Variables

You can declare environment variables either:

• Project-level (shared) — available across all services in the project
• Environment-level — specific to a single environment
• Service-level — specific to a single service

Project-Level Variables

Practical Example

Let's consider a common scenario where you have:

• A PostgreSQL database
• Two services that need to connect to this database

1. Define Shared Variable

In the project's shared variables section, define:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@database:5432/postgres

2. Use the Variable in Services

In each service's environment variables tab, reference the shared variable:

DATABASE_URL=${{project.DATABASE_URL}}

You can use shared environment variables in all the services available in dokploy.

Environment-Level Variables

Practical Example

Let's consider a scenario where you have:

• A staging environment with different database credentials
• Multiple services that need environment-specific configurations

1. Define Environment Variable

In the environment's variables section, define:

DATABASE_PASSWORD=staging_secret_password
API_KEY=staging_api_key_12345

2. Use the Variable in Services

In each service's environment variables tab, reference the environment variable:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:${{environment.DATABASE_PASSWORD}}@staging-db:5432/postgres
EXTERNAL_API_KEY=${{environment.API_KEY}}

You can use environment variables in all the services available in that specific environment.

Service-Level Variables

Service-level variables are specific to a single service and can be used to override shared variables or define service-specific configurations.

Practical Example

Let's say you have a service that requires a different database user. You can define a service-level variable:

DATABASE_USER=service_user
DATABASE_PASSWORD=service_password
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://${{DATABASE_USER}}:${{DATABASE_PASSWORD}}@service-database:5432/postgres

Best Practices

• Use shared variables for credentials and configurations that repeat across services
• Keep descriptive variable names
• Document the purpose of each variable for easier maintenance