Configuring Laravel With Additional Environment Files

Laravel allows you to specify alternative environment files, bypassing the standard .env file. This is particularly useful for testing, where a dedicated .env.testing file can isolate test configurations. While not always necessary, this feature provides flexibility by leveraging the APP_ENV environment variable.

CLI Usage

The simplest application is using different environment files with Artisan commands or PHPUnit. To use a .env.demo file, for instance:

# Create .env.demo
cp .env .env.demo
echo "\nEXAMPLE_SETTING=demo" >> .env.demo

# Use the `demo` env
php artisan tinker --env=demo

# Or set APP_ENV
APP_ENV=demo php artisan tinker

Laravel will prioritize .env.demo over .env.

Example using .env.demo instead of .env

PHPUnit and .env.testing

For PHPUnit tests, the default is to use .env. However, this can lead to conflicts with local development settings, especially concerning databases. While phpunit.xml offers database configuration, using .env.testing provides a cleaner approach.

phpunit.xml sets APP_ENV to "testing", prompting Laravel to load .env.testing during feature tests:

<env name="APP_ENV" value="testing"></env>

Create .env.testing and add test-specific settings:

cp .env .env.testing
echo "\nEXAMPLE_SETTING=testing" >> .env.testing

To verify .env.testing is loaded, add this to a test in tests/Feature:

/**
 * A basic test example.
 */
public function test_the_application_returns_a_successful_response(): void
{
    logger('Which environment file is Laravel using?', [
        'file' => $this->app->environmentFile()
    ]);

    $response = $this->get('/');

    $response->assertStatus(200);
}

Running phpunit should log:

<code>[2024-05-24 00:22:42] testing.DEBUG: Which environment file is Laravel using? {"file":".env.testing"}</code>

Whether to version control .env.testing (or use a sample .env.testing.example) is a team decision. For CI, system-level environment variables are recommended for settings like test databases. Refer to the official Laravel documentation for more detailed environment configuration. For a deeper dive into the framework's implementation, examine the setEnvironmentFilePath and checkForSpecificEnvironmentFile methods in the Laravel source code.

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