How do I setup the dotenv file in Node.js?

Question

I am trying to use the dotenv NPM package and it is not working for me. I have a file config/config.js with the following content:

Answer 1

In my case, I've created a wrapper JS file in which I have the logic to select the correct variables according to my environment, dynamically.

I have these two functions, one it's a wrapper of a simple dotenv functionality, and the other discriminate between environments and set the result to the process.env object.

setEnvVariablesByEnvironment : ()=>{
		return new Promise((resolve)=>{

			if (process.env.NODE_ENV === undefined || process.env.NODE_ENV ==='development'){
				logger.info('Lower / Development environment was detected');

				environmentManager.getEnvironmentFromEnvFile()
					.then(envFile => {
						resolve(envFile);
					});

			}else{
				logger.warn('Production or Stage environment was detected.');
				resolve({
					payload: process.env,
					flag: true,
					status: 0,
					log: 'Returned environment variables placed in .env file.'
				});
			}


		});
	} ,

	/*
	Get environment variables from .env file, using dotEnv npm module.
	 */
	getEnvironmentFromEnvFile: () => {
		return new Promise((resolve)=>{
			logger.info('Trying to get configuration of environment variables from .env file');

			env.config({
				debug: (process.env.NODE_ENV === undefined || process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development')
			});

			resolve({
				payload: process.env,
				flag: true,
				status: 0,
				log: 'Returned environment variables placed in .env file.'
			});
		});
	},

So, in my server.js file i only added the reference:

const envManager = require('./lib/application/config/environment/environment-manager');

And in my entry-point (server.js), it's just simple as use it.

envManager.setEnvVariablesByEnvironment()
.then(envVariables=>{
    process.env= envVariables.payload;

    const port = process.env.PORT_EXPOSE;
    microService.listen(port, '0.0.0.0' , () =>{

        let welcomeMessage = `Micro Service started at ${Date.now()}`;
        logger.info(welcomeMessage);

        logger.info(`${configuration.about.name} port configured  -> : ${port}`);
        logger.info(`App Author: ${configuration.about.owner}`);
        logger.info(`App Version: ${configuration.about.version}`);
        logger.info(`Created by: ${configuration.about.author}`);

    });
});