mintel.me/ENV_SETUP.md

Environment Setup Guide

This guide explains how to configure environment variables for your Hetzner deployment.

Quick Start

1. Copy the example file:

   cp .env.example .env
   

2. Edit the .env file:

   nano .env
   

3. Fill in your values (see below)

Required Variables

DOMAIN

Your website domain name.

DOMAIN=mintel.me

ADMIN_EMAIL

Email for SSL certificate notifications.

ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@mintel.me

Optional Variables

REDIS_URL

Connection string for Redis cache.

• Default: redis://redis:6379
• Format: redis://host:port
• Example: redis://redis:6379

PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN

Domain for Plausible analytics tracking.

• Default: Same as DOMAIN
• Example: mintel.me

PLAUSIBLE_SCRIPT_URL

URL to your Plausible analytics script.

• Default: https://plausible.yourdomain.com/js/script.js
• Example: https://analytics.mintel.me/js/script.js

Woodpecker CI/CD Variables

These are only needed if using Woodpecker for automated deployment:

DEPLOY_HOST

Hetzner server IP address or hostname.

DEPLOY_HOST=123.45.67.89

DEPLOY_USER

User for SSH access (usually root).

DEPLOY_USER=root

SSH_PRIVATE_KEY

Private key for SSH authentication.

SSH_PRIVATE_KEY=-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
...
-----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----

Generate SSH key if needed:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "woodpecker@mintel.me"
ssh-copy-id root@YOUR_HETZNER_IP

SLACK_WEBHOOK (Optional)

Slack webhook for deployment notifications.

SLACK_WEBHOOK=https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL

Usage Examples

Local Development

# Create .env file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit with your values
nano .env

# Start services
docker-compose up

Production Deployment

# On Hetzner server
cd /opt/mintel

# Create .env file
cat > .env << EOF
DOMAIN=mintel.me
ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@mintel.me
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN=mintel.me
PLAUSIBLE_SCRIPT_URL=https://analytics.mintel.me/js/script.js
EOF

# Deploy
./deploy.sh

Woodpecker CI/CD

1. Go to your Gitea repository
2. Navigate to Settings → Secrets
3. Add these secrets:
   • DEPLOY_HOST - Your Hetzner IP
   • DEPLOY_USER - Usually root
   • SSH_PRIVATE_KEY - Private key content
   • DOMAIN - Your domain
   • ADMIN_EMAIL - Your email
   • (Optional) SLACK_WEBHOOK

Security Notes

• Never commit .env file to git (it's in .gitignore)
• Keep SSH keys secure and never share
• Use strong passwords for all services
• Enable firewall on Hetzner server

Troubleshooting

Variables not loading

# Check if .env file exists
ls -la .env

# Check file permissions
chmod 600 .env

# Verify variables
cat .env

Docker Compose not using .env

# Explicitly specify env file
docker-compose --env-file .env up

# Or check if it's being loaded
docker-compose config

Woodpecker secrets not working

1. Verify secret names match exactly
2. Check repository settings
3. Restart Woodpecker agent
4. Check Woodpecker logs

Environment-Specific Configurations

Development

# .env
DOMAIN=localhost:3000
ADMIN_EMAIL=dev@localhost
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

Staging

# .env
DOMAIN=staging.mintel.me
ADMIN_EMAIL=staging@mintel.me
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379

Production

# .env
DOMAIN=mintel.me
ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@mintel.me
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN=mintel.me
PLAUSIBLE_SCRIPT_URL=https://analytics.mintel.me/js/script.js

Available Variables Reference

Variable	Required	Default	Description
DOMAIN	✅ Yes	-	Website domain
ADMIN_EMAIL	✅ Yes	-	SSL contact email
REDIS_URL	❌ No	redis://redis:6379	Redis connection
PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN	❌ No	Same as DOMAIN	Analytics domain
PLAUSIBLE_SCRIPT_URL	❌ No	Plausible default	Analytics script URL
DEPLOY_HOST	CI Only	-	Hetzner server IP
DEPLOY_USER	CI Only	root	SSH user
SSH_PRIVATE_KEY	CI Only	-	SSH private key
SLACK_WEBHOOK	❌ No	-	Slack notifications

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Next: Run ./deploy.sh or push to trigger CI/CD deployment!