Javascript

How to use Environmental Variables in NodeJS

Environment variables are a quick and easy way to set up variables which may change from server to server, or from local machine to production server.

A classic example, is checking whether you are on the production server or not. You might then use HTTPS on your production server, but not on your local development machine.

Using Environmental Variables with NodeJS

NodeJS doesn't have an easily built in environmental capability, but fortunately there is an npm package which can help with that. To install it, run this command:

npm i dotenv

Now we have that installed, lets include it in the top of our Node.JS file:

import dotenv from 'dotenv';
dotenv.config();

Or with require..

// Or..
const dotenv = require('dotenv');
dotenv.config();

Great, now all we have to do is create a file in our base directory called .env. Inside it, we can put our variables in this format:

environment=production
serverid=000001

Then, in our Javascript, when we want to refer to a specific variable, we do it like this:

console.log(process.env.environment); // Returns production
console.log(process.env.serverid); // Returns 000001    

Easy, right? And if we want to change the location of our .env file, we can update that in the config at the top of the page:

import dotenv from 'dotenv'
dotenv.config({ path: './path/to/new/.env' });

More Tips and Tricks for Javascript

• Truthy and Falsy Values in Javascript
• Javascript Array Every Method
• Javascript Promise.all() - Everything you need to know
• An Introduction to Javascript
• How to use Environmental Variables in NodeJS
• Future Javascript: Javascript Pipeline Operators
• How does the Javascript logical AND (&&) operator work?
• Removing the last element of an array in Javascript
• How Events work in Javascript
• How to fix 'Uncaught SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module'