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Configuration

Environment Variables​

Environment variables are key-value pairs that influence the behavior of running processes in an application. For Fleetbase, they are crucial for setting up database connections, external service integrations, and operational parameters.

How to Set Environment Variables​

In Docker environments, environment variables are usually set in the docker-compose.yml file or a separate .env file that Docker Compose can reference. When setting up from source, you may configure them directly in a .env file in the application's root directory. If you're modifying or adding environment variables to a docker setup we suggest you use a docker-compose.override.yml so upgrades will be seamless.

Example for Docker (docker-compose.override.yml):​

This file can be used to overwrite default environment variables which are set in the docker-compose.yml file which ships with Fleetbase.

services:
  application:
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@db:3306/fleetbase
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379

Example for Source (.env):​

DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/fleetbase
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

Env Variables for Fleetbase API​

  • APP_URL: The URL where your Fleetbase API is accessible. For development, you might use localhost.
  • CONSOLE_HOST: The URL for the Fleetbase console.
  • DATABASE_URL: The full database connection URL, including username, password, host, and database name.
  • STOREFRONT_DB_CONNECTION: The database connection name for the storefront.
  • QUEUE_CONNECTION: Defines the queue backend, which in this case is Redis.
  • CACHE_DRIVER: Specifies Redis as the caching backend.
  • CACHE_PATH: The file path for storing cache files, useful if file-based caching is used.
  • CACHE_URL: The URL for the Redis cache server.
  • REDIS_URL: The URL for the Redis server used for caching and queues.
  • SESSION_DOMAIN: The domain under which sessions are valid.
  • BROADCAST_DRIVER: The technology used for broadcasting real-time messages.
  • MAIL_FROM_NAME: Default name used in emails sent by the system.
  • APP_NAME: The name of your application.
  • LOG_CHANNEL: Specifies how application logging is handled.
  • MODEL_CACHE_ENABLED: Toggle to enable/disable model caching.
  • RESPONSE_CACHE_ENABLED: Toggle to enable/disable response caching.
  • RESPONSE_CACHE_DRIVER: Specifies the caching driver for responses.
  • MAIL_MAILER: Defines the mail backend, for example: Sendgrid, SES (Amazon Simple Email Service), Postmark.
  • IPINFO_API_KEY: API key for IPInfo service, if used.
  • GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY: API key for Google Maps services.
  • GOOGLE_MAPS_LOCALE: Locale setting for Google Maps.
  • TWILIO_SID: Account SID for Twilio, used for sending SMS.
  • TWILIO_TOKEN: Authentication token for Twilio.
  • TWILIO_FROM: The phone number from which Twilio SMS are sent.
  • SENTRY_LARAVEL_DSN: The DSN for Sentry, used for error tracking.
  • OSRM_HOST: The OSRM server to use, defaults to https://router.project-osrm.org

Env Variables for Fleetbase Console​

The console has a different set of environment variables, mainly used to setup connection to API.

  • API_HOST: The URL where your Fleetbase API is accessible.
  • API_NAMESPACE: The namespace which should be used for the Fleetbase API, typically will remain int/v1.
  • SOCKETCLUSTER_PATH: The path to the socketcluster host instance. Defaults to /socketcluster/.
  • SOCKETCLUSTER_HOST: The host of the socketclust instance.
  • SOCKETCLUSTER_SECURE: Whether or not to use a secure socketcluster connection. (wss:// or ws://).
  • SOCKETCLUSTER_PORT: The port of the socketclust instance. Defaults to 38000.
  • OSRM_HOST: The OSRM server to use, defaults to https://router.project-osrm.org

Setting Up SSL​

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is crucial for protecting your application's data in transit. Below are steps for setting up SSL in both Docker-based deployments and traditional server environments from source.

SSL with Docker​

  1. Obtain an SSL Certificate:

Use Let’s Encrypt or a similar CA to obtain an SSL certificate. You can automate this with certbot:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install certbot
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com
  1. Configure Docker to Use SSL:

Modify your docker-compose.override.yml to mount the SSL certificates and configure your web server to use them:

services:
  console:
    volumes:
      - /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem:/etc/ssl/certs/fullchain.pem
      - /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem:/etc/ssl/private/privkey.pem
    environment:
      - SSL_CERTIFICATE=/etc/ssl/certs/fullchain.pem
      - SSL_CERTIFICATE_KEY=/etc/ssl/private/privkey.pem
  1. Update Nginx Configuration:

Ensure your Nginx configuration within Docker utilizes these SSL certificates for HTTPS connections. You will need to modify the console/nginx.conf file and rebuild the console container.

SSL from Source​

  1. Obtain SSL Certificates: Similar to the Docker method, use certbot or manually place your SSL certificates in a secure directory on your server.

  2. Configure Web Server: Edit your web server’s configuration to use SSL:

For Nginx:

server {
    listen       443 ssl;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        root   /usr/share/nginx/html;
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html =404;
    }
}
  1. Redirect HTTP to HTTPS:

Optionally, configure your server to redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS to ensure secure connections:

For Nginx:

server {
    listen       443 ssl;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        root   /usr/share/nginx/html;
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html =404;
    }
}

Conclusion​

This configuration guide provides a comprehensive overview of setting up and securing Fleetbase in a production environment, covering essential environment variables and SSL configuration. Properly using this guide will help ensure that your Fleetbase installation is secure, reliable, and ready for production use.