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+---
+title: How to Use Environment Variables for your Drupal Settings with Docksal
+date: '2018-06-04'
+slug: using-environment-variables-settings-docksal
+tags:
+    - drupal
+    - drupal-planet
+    - docksal
+---
+{% block excerpt %}
+Within the [Docksal documentation for Drupal settings][0], the example database settings include hard-coded credentials to connect to the Drupal database. For example, within a `settings.php` file, you could add this:
+
+```language-php
+$databases['default']['default'] = [
+  'driver' => 'mysql',
+  'host' => 'db',
+  'database' => 'myproject_db',
+  'username' => 'myproject_user',
+  'password' => 'myproject_pass',
+];
+```
+
+Whilst this is fine, it does mean that there is duplication in the codebase as the database credentials can also be added as environment variations within `.docksal/docksal.env` - this is definitely the case if you want to use a custom database name, for example.
+
+Also if one of these values were to change, then Drupal wouldn't be aware of that and would no longer be able to connect to the database.
+
+It also means that the file can’t simply be re-used on another project as it contains project-specific credentials.
+
+We can improve this by using the environment variables within the settings file.
+{% endblock %}
+
+{% block content %}
+The relevant environment variables are `MYSQL_DB` for the database name, and `MYSQL_USER` and `MYSQL_PASSWORD` for the MySQL username and password. These can be set in `.docksal/docksal.env`, and will need to be present for this to work.
+
+For example:
+
+```
+DOCKSAL_STACK=default
+MYSQL_DB=myproject_db
+MYSQL_USER=myproject_user
+MYSQL_PASSWORD=myproject_pass
+```
+
+With these in place, they can be referenced within the settings file using the `getenv()` function.
+
+```
+$databases['default']['default'] = [
+  'driver' => 'mysql',
+  'host' => 'db',
+  'database' => getenv('MYSQL_DB'),
+  'username' => getenv('MYSQL_USER'),
+  'password' => getenv('MYSQL_PASSWORD'),
+];
+```
+
+Now the credentials are no longer duplicated, and the latest values from the environment variables will always be used.
+
+However, you may see a message like this when you try and load the site:
+
+> Drupal\Core\Database\DatabaseAccessDeniedException: SQLSTATE[HY000] [1045] Access denied for user ''@'172.19.0.4' (using password: NO) in /var/www/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php on line 156
+
+If you see this, the environment variables aren’t being passed into Docksal’s `cli` container, so the values are not being populated. To enable them, edit `.docksal/docksal.yml` and add `MYSQL_DB`, `MYSQL_PASSWORD` and `MYSQL_USER` to the `environment` section of the `cli` service.
+
+```language-yml
+version: '2.1'
+services:
+  cli:
+    environment:
+      - MYSQL_DB
+      - MYSQL_PASSWORD
+      - MYSQL_USER
+```
+
+After changing this file, run `fin start` to rebuild the project containers and try to load the site again.
+{% endblock %}
+
+[0]: https://docksal.readthedocs.io/en/master/advanced/drupal-settings