Where to put environment variables on the server?

Question

I have a Rails app on a production server and an .rb file where I do this:

Rails.configuration.my_sect = if Rails.env.development? || Rails.env.test?
  {
    secret_key: 'some_secrete',
    public_key: 'some_public'
  }
else
  {
    secret_key: ENV['key1'],
    public_key: ENV['key2']
  }
end

The application is on a Linux server. What's the best place to put the values of those secret_key and public_key on the server so ENV['key1'] and ENV['key2'] can always be accessible?

I don't want to use any gem or Capistrano.

possible duplicate of [Environment variables on production](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17150736/environment-variables-on-production) — mdesantis, Feb 17 '15 at 14:31
How do you run your application? If you use for example `foreman`, it will read `.env` if it's present. — Jesper, Feb 17 '15 at 14:35
This question looks related: [Setting Environment Variables in Rails 3 (Devise + Omniauth)](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11648620/setting-environment-variables-in-rails-3-devise-omniauth) — Stefan, Feb 17 '15 at 15:01

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 17 '15 at 14:37

1

I would put them in the server script, because, for example, shell configuration files like ~/.bashrc are not loaded in cron scripts or other scenarios.

The "server script" could be as simple as key1=foo key2=baz rails s.

answered Feb 17 '15 at 14:37

Leonid Shevtsov

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jljohnstone · Answer 2 · 2015-02-17T15:10:52.527

0

Add /config/en_vars.rb to .gitignore

Create a file config/en_vars.rb and put your variables there:

ENV['key1']='foo'
ENV['key2']='bar'

Then in config/environment.rb add the lines below the require line:

en_vars = File.join(Rails.root, 'config/en_vars.rb')
load(en_vars) if File.exists?(en_vars)

edited Feb 17 '15 at 15:10

answered Feb 17 '15 at 14:53

jljohnstone

1,202
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score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 17 '15 at 17:02

Even if you say you don't want to use any gem, I recommend you to use dotenv; even if it's not suggested to use it on a production environment.

Otherwise, the simplest plain solution is:

create a per-project environment variables file (let's say "$PROJECT_DIR/.env")
Add it to .gitignore
execute it before the application server starting, with something like
```
source "$PROJECT_DIR/.env" && rails server
```

But that's what dotenv is created for, so why reinvent the wheel?

Where to put environment variables on the server?

3 Answers3