Environment Variables

Overview

Bar Galileo uses environment variables for configuration management. Variables are loaded from a .env file located at bar_galileo/bar_galileo/.env using the python-dotenv package.

Environment File Location

bar_galileo/
└── bar_galileo/
    ├── .env              # Environment configuration
    ├── settings.py
    ├── wsgi.py
    └── asgi.py

Quick Setup

Create .env file

Create the environment file in the correct location:

touch bar_galileo/bar_galileo/.env

Add required variables

Copy the template below and customize values:

nano bar_galileo/bar_galileo/.env

Restart Django

Restart the server to load new configuration:

python manage.py runserver

Environment Variables Reference

Core Django Settings

DEBUG

boolean

default:"True"

Enable or disable Django debug mode.Accepted values: 1, true, yes, True (case-insensitive)Production: Must be False

secret_key

string

required

Django secret key for cryptographic signing.Security: Keep this value secret. Never commit to version control.Generation: Use Django’s get_random_secret_key() or:

python -c 'from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())'

ALLOWED_HOSTS

string

default:"* (if DEBUG=True)"

Comma-separated list of host/domain names that Django can serve.Format: localhost,example.com,www.example.comExample: localhost,bar-galileo.com,192.168.1.100

In production, ALLOWED_HOSTS must be explicitly set to your domain names. Never use * in production.

Database Configuration

DB_NAME

string

default:"bar_galileo"

MySQL/MariaDB database name.

DB_USER

string

default:"bar_galileo_user"

MySQL/MariaDB database user.

DB_PASSWORD

string

default:"Galileo2025"

MySQL/MariaDB database password.Security: Use a strong password in production.

DB_HOST

string

default:"localhost"

MySQL/MariaDB database host.Examples: localhost, 127.0.0.1, db.example.com

DB_PORT

string

default:"3306"

MySQL/MariaDB database port.

Email Configuration

emailHost

string

required

Gmail email address for sending system emails.Example: [email protected]

emailPassword

string

required

Gmail App Password (not your regular Gmail password).How to generate:

Enable 2-factor authentication on your Google account
Visit https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords
Generate a new app password
Use the 16-character password in this field

Gmail App Passwords are different from your regular password. You must enable 2FA to generate app passwords.

Environment File Templates

Development Template

# Django Core Settings
DEBUG=True
secret_key=your-secret-key-here
ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost,127.0.0.1

# Database Configuration
DB_NAME=bar_galileo
DB_USER=bar_galileo_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_password_here
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306

# Email Configuration
emailHost=[email protected]
emailPassword=your-app-password-here

Database Setup

MySQL/MariaDB Initial Configuration

After setting environment variables, create the database:

CREATE DATABASE bar_galileo 
  CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 
  COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Production Security Checklist

Before deploying to production, verify all security settings:

Set DEBUG=False

DEBUG=False

This disables debug pages and protects sensitive information.

Generate secure SECRET_KEY

python -c 'from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())'

Use a unique, random key for production.

Configure ALLOWED_HOSTS

ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourdomain.com,www.yourdomain.com

Only include your actual domain names.

Use strong database password

DB_PASSWORD=STRONG-RANDOM-PASSWORD-HERE

Never use the default password in production.

Set up SSL/HTTPS

Ensure your server has a valid SSL certificate. Security settings are auto-enabled when DEBUG=False:

SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 31536000

Auto-Enabled Production Settings

When DEBUG=False, these security features are automatically enabled:

settings.py

if not DEBUG:
    SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True                    # Force HTTPS
    SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True                  # Secure session cookies
    CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True                     # Secure CSRF cookies
    SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 31536000                # HSTS for 1 year
    SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS = True         # HSTS for subdomains
    SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD = True                    # HSTS preload list
    SECURE_REFERRER_POLICY = 'strict-origin-when-cross-origin'

Environment Variable Loading

Bar Galileo loads environment variables using python-dotenv:

settings.py

from dotenv import load_dotenv
from pathlib import Path

load_dotenv(dotenv_path=Path(__file__).resolve().parent / '.env')

Variable Access in Code

import os

# Get variable with default
db_name = os.getenv('DB_NAME', 'bar_galileo')

# Get required variable
secret = os.getenv('secret_key')

# Boolean conversion
debug = str(os.getenv('DEBUG', 'True')).lower() in ('1', 'true', 'yes')

# List conversion (comma-separated)
raw_hosts = os.getenv('ALLOWED_HOSTS', '')
hosts = [h.strip() for h in raw_hosts.split(',') if h.strip()]

Common Issues

.env File Not Found

If environment variables aren’t loading:

Check file location

The .env file must be in bar_galileo/bar_galileo/.env (same directory as settings.py)

Verify file name

Ensure the file is named exactly .env (not env.txt or .env.example)

Check file permissions

chmod 600 bar_galileo/bar_galileo/.env

Database Connection Errors

Access denied for user

Check DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD are correct:

mysql -u bar_galileo_user -p

Enter the password from your .env file.

Unknown database

Create the database:

CREATE DATABASE bar_galileo CHARACTER SET utf8mb4;

Can't connect to MySQL server

Check DB_HOST and DB_PORT:

mysql -h localhost -P 3306 -u bar_galileo_user -p

Email Configuration Issues

Authentication failed

Ensure you’re using a Gmail App Password, not your regular password
Enable 2-factor authentication on your Google account
Generate a new app password at https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords

SMTPException: STARTTLS extension not supported

Check that EMAIL_PORT=587 and EMAIL_USE_TLS=True are set correctly in settings.py

Default Values Summary

Variable	Default Value	Required	Environment
`DEBUG`	`True`	No	All
`secret_key`	Auto-generated	Yes (production)	All
`ALLOWED_HOSTS`	`*` (if DEBUG)	Yes (production)	All
`DB_NAME`	`bar_galileo`	No	All
`DB_USER`	`bar_galileo_user`	No	All
`DB_PASSWORD`	`Galileo2025`	Yes (production)	All
`DB_HOST`	`localhost`	No	All
`DB_PORT`	`3306`	No	All
`emailHost`	None	Yes	All
`emailPassword`	None	Yes	All

Security Best Practices

Never Commit .env

Add .env to .gitignore to prevent accidental commits

Use Strong Passwords

Generate secure random passwords for production

Rotate Secrets

Regularly update SECRET_KEY and passwords

Limit Permissions

Use restricted database user permissions in production

Django Settings

Complete Django settings reference

Deployment Guide

Production deployment instructions

Models

Views & Endpoints

Configuration

Environment Variables

Overview

Environment File Location

Quick Setup

Environment Variables Reference

Core Django Settings

Database Configuration

Email Configuration

Environment File Templates

Development Template

Database Setup

MySQL/MariaDB Initial Configuration

Production Security Checklist

Auto-Enabled Production Settings

Environment Variable Loading

Variable Access in Code

Common Issues

.env File Not Found

Database Connection Errors

Email Configuration Issues

Default Values Summary

Security Best Practices

Never Commit .env

Use Strong Passwords

Rotate Secrets

Limit Permissions

Django Settings

Deployment Guide

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Models

Views & Endpoints

Configuration

​Overview

​Environment File Location

​Quick Setup

​Environment Variables Reference

​Core Django Settings

​Database Configuration

​Email Configuration

​Environment File Templates

​Development Template

​Database Setup

​MySQL/MariaDB Initial Configuration

​Production Security Checklist

​Auto-Enabled Production Settings

​Environment Variable Loading

​Variable Access in Code

​Common Issues

​.env File Not Found

​Database Connection Errors

​Email Configuration Issues

​Default Values Summary

​Security Best Practices

Never Commit .env

Use Strong Passwords

Rotate Secrets

Limit Permissions

​Related Documentation

Django Settings

Deployment Guide

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Environment File Location

Quick Setup

Environment Variables Reference

Core Django Settings

Database Configuration

Email Configuration

Environment File Templates

Development Template

Database Setup

MySQL/MariaDB Initial Configuration

Production Security Checklist

Auto-Enabled Production Settings

Environment Variable Loading

Variable Access in Code

Common Issues

.env File Not Found

Database Connection Errors

Email Configuration Issues

Default Values Summary

Security Best Practices

Related Documentation