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This page documents all environment variables and configuration options used across the Docker services.

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Infrastructure Services

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PostgreSQL Databases

Both catalogdb and basketdb use PostgreSQL with identical configuration patterns.

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Catalog Database

catalogdb:
  environment:
    - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
    - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
    - POSTGRES_DB=CatalogDb
  ports:
    - "5432:5432"
  volumes:
    - postgres_catalog:/var/lib/postgresql/data/

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Basket Database

basketdb:
  environment:
    - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
    - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
    - POSTGRES_DB=BasketDb
  ports:
    - "5433:5432"  # External port 5433 to avoid conflict
  volumes:
    - postgres_basket:/var/lib/postgresql/data/
Environment Variables:
VariableValueDescription
POSTGRES_USERpostgresDefault PostgreSQL superuser
POSTGRES_PASSWORDpostgresSuperuser password (change for production)
POSTGRES_DBCatalogDb/BasketDbInitial database name
Default credentials are used for development. Always use strong passwords and secure credential management in production.

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SQL Server (Order Database)

orderdb:
  environment:
    - ACCEPT_EULA=Y
    - SA_PASSWORD=SwN12345678
  ports:
    - "1433:1433"
Environment Variables:
VariableValueDescription
ACCEPT_EULAYAccept SQL Server End-User License Agreement
SA_PASSWORDSwN12345678System administrator password (must meet complexity requirements)
SQL Server passwords must be at least 8 characters and contain uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters.

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Redis Cache

distributedcache:
  container_name: distributedcache
  restart: always
  ports:
    - "6379:6379"
Redis runs with default configuration. No authentication is configured for development.

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RabbitMQ Message Broker

messagebroker:
  container_name: messagebroker
  hostname: ecommerce-mq
  environment:
    - RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USER=guest
    - RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASS=guest
  ports:
    - "5672:5672"   # AMQP protocol
    - "15672:15672" # Management UI
Environment Variables:
VariableValueDescription
RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USERguestDefault RabbitMQ user
RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASSguestDefault password
Access Management UI: http://localhost:15672 (guest/guest)

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Application Services

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Common ASP.NET Core Settings

All .NET services share these common environment variables: 
environment:
  - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
  - ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS=8080
  - ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS=8081
VariableValueDescription
ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENTDevelopmentEnables detailed errors, developer exception page
ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS8080Internal HTTP port
ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS8081Internal HTTPS port

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Catalog API

catalog.api:
  environment:
    - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS=8080
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS=8081
    - ConnectionStrings__Database=Server=catalogdb;Port=5432;Database=CatalogDb;User Id=postgres;Password=postgres;Include Error Detail=true
  ports:
    - "6000:8080"
    - "6060:8081"
Connection String Format:
  • Server: catalogdb (container name)
  • Port: 5432 (PostgreSQL default)
  • Database: CatalogDb
  • User Id: postgres
  • Password: postgres
  • Include Error Detail: true (development only)

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Basket API

basket.api:
  environment:
    - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS=8080
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS=8081
    - ConnectionStrings__Database=Server=basketdb;Port=5432;Database=BasketDb;User Id=postgres;Password=postgres;Include Error Detail=true
    - ConnectionStrings__Redis=distributedcache:6379
    - GrpcSettings__DiscountUrl=https://discount.grpc:8081
    - MessageBroker__Host=amqp://ecommerce-mq:5672
    - MessageBroker__UserName=guest
    - MessageBroker__Password=guest
  ports:
    - "6001:8080"
    - "6061:8081"
Additional Configuration:
VariableValueDescription
ConnectionStrings__Redisdistributedcache:6379Redis connection for caching
GrpcSettings__DiscountUrlhttps://discount.grpc:8081gRPC endpoint for discount service
MessageBroker__Hostamqp://ecommerce-mq:5672RabbitMQ AMQP connection
MessageBroker__UserNameguestRabbitMQ username
MessageBroker__PasswordguestRabbitMQ password

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Discount gRPC Service

discount.grpc:
  environment:
    - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS=8080
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS=8081
    - ConnectionStrings__Database=Data Source=discountdb
  ports:
    - "6002:8080"
    - "6062:8081"
Connection String:
  • Uses SQLite with file-based database discountdb
  • Database file stored in container filesystem

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Ordering API

ordering.api:
  environment:
    - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS=8080
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS=8081
    - ConnectionStrings__Database=Server=orderdb;Database=OrderDb;User Id=sa;Password=SwN12345678;Encrypt=False;TrustServerCertificate=True
    - MessageBroker__Host=amqp://ecommerce-mq:5672
    - MessageBroker__UserName=guest
    - MessageBroker__Password=guest
    - FeatureManagement__OrderFullfilment=false
  ports:
    - "6003:8080"
    - "6063:8081"
SQL Server Connection String:
  • Server: orderdb (container name)
  • Database: OrderDb
  • User Id: sa (system administrator)
  • Password: SwN12345678
  • Encrypt: False (development only)
  • TrustServerCertificate: True (development only)
Feature Flags:
VariableValueDescription
FeatureManagement__OrderFullfilmentfalseToggles order fulfillment feature

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YARP API Gateway

yarpapigateway:
  environment:
    - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS=8080
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS=8081
  ports:
    - "6004:8080"
    - "6064:8081"
Gateway routing configuration is stored in appsettings.json within the container.

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Shopping Web Application

shopping.web:
  environment:
    - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTP_PORTS=8080
    - ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORTS=8081
    - ApiSettings__GatewayAddress=http://yarpapigateway:8080
  ports:
    - "6005:8080"
    - "6065:8081"
API Configuration:
VariableValueDescription
ApiSettings__GatewayAddresshttp://yarpapigateway:8080Internal gateway URL for API calls

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Port Mappings

All port mappings follow the pattern HOST:CONTAINER:
ServiceHTTP (Host:Container)HTTPS (Host:Container)Purpose
catalog.api6000:80806060:8081Catalog service
basket.api6001:80806061:8081Basket service
discount.grpc6002:80806062:8081Discount service
ordering.api6003:80806063:8081Ordering service
yarpapigateway6004:80806064:8081API Gateway
shopping.web6005:80806065:8081Web UI
catalogdb5432:5432-PostgreSQL
basketdb5433:5432-PostgreSQL
orderdb1433:1433-SQL Server
distributedcache6379:6379-Redis
messagebroker5672:5672-RabbitMQ AMQP
messagebroker15672:15672-RabbitMQ Management

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Volume Mounts

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Database Persistence

volumes:
  - postgres_catalog:/var/lib/postgresql/data/
  - postgres_basket:/var/lib/postgresql/data/
Named volumes persist database data between container restarts.

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Development Secrets and Certificates

All .NET services mount user secrets and HTTPS certificates: 
volumes:
  - ${APPDATA}/Microsoft/UserSecrets:/home/app/.microsoft/usersecrets:ro
  - ${APPDATA}/ASP.NET/Https:/home/app/.aspnet/https:ro
  • User secrets: Development-time secret storage
  • HTTPS certificates: Development SSL/TLS certificates
  • :ro flag: Read-only mount
The ${APPDATA} environment variable resolves to the Windows user’s AppData folder. For Linux/macOS, adjust these paths to ~/.microsoft/usersecrets and ~/.aspnet/https.

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Configuration Hierarchy

ASP.NET Core configuration is loaded in this order (later sources override earlier ones):
  1. appsettings.json (in container)
  2. appsettings.{Environment}.json (e.g., appsettings.Development.json)
  3. User Secrets (development only)
  4. Environment variables (from docker-compose)
  5. Command-line arguments
Docker Compose environment variables use double underscore __ to represent configuration hierarchy: 
ConnectionStrings__Database → ConnectionStrings:Database
MessageBroker__Host → MessageBroker:Host
FeatureManagement__OrderFullfilment → FeatureManagement:OrderFullfilment

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Security Considerations

The current configuration is optimized for development and should not be used in production without modifications.

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Production Checklist

  • Replace hardcoded credentials with Docker secrets or environment-specific secrets management
  • Use strong, unique passwords for all databases
  • Enable encryption for database connections (Encrypt=True)
  • Use trusted SSL certificates instead of TrustServerCertificate=True
  • Remove or secure database port exposure to host
  • Enable RabbitMQ authentication and SSL
  • Set ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production
  • Remove detailed error messages (Include Error Detail=true)
  • Use Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or HashiCorp Vault
  • Implement certificate rotation policies

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Docker Secrets Example

secrets:
  db_password:
    file: ./secrets/db_password.txt

services:
  catalogdb:
    secrets:
      - db_password
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD_FILE=/run/secrets/db_password

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Customizing Configuration

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Override for Local Development

Create docker-compose.local.yml: 
version: '3.4'

services:
  catalog.api:
    environment:
      - ConnectionStrings__Database=Server=localhost;Port=5432;Database=CatalogDb;User Id=myuser;Password=mypass
Run with: 
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.override.yml -f docker-compose.local.yml up

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Environment-Specific Files

# Development
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.override.yml up

# Staging
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.staging.yml up

# Production
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.prod.yml up

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