Environment Variables

Complete reference for all PATH DRC EMR environment variables.

Quick Setup

Create a .env file in the project root by copying the example:

cp .env.example .env

Edit the file to set your specific values.

Core Configuration

Docker Image Tags

Variable Description Default Example
TAG Docker image tag for frontend/backend latest latest-akram

Database Configuration

Variable Description Default
OMRS_DB_USER Database username openmrs
OMRS_DB_PASSWORD Database password openmrs
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD MySQL root password openmrs

Security: Change the default database passwords for production deployments!

Backend Configuration

These variables are set in docker-compose.yml but can be overridden:

Variable Description Default
OMRS_CONFIG_MODULE_WEB_ADMIN Enable web admin module true
OMRS_CONFIG_AUTO_UPDATE_DATABASE Auto-update database on startup true
OMRS_CONFIG_CREATE_TABLES Create tables if not exist true
OMRS_CONFIG_CONNECTION_SERVER Database server hostname db
OMRS_CONFIG_CONNECTION_DATABASE Database name openmrs

Frontend Configuration

Variable Description Default
SPA_PATH URL path for the SPA /openmrs/spa
API_URL Backend API URL /openmrs
SPA_CONFIG_URLS Configuration file URL /openmrs/spa/openmrs-config.json
SPA_DEFAULT_LOCALE Default language fr

Volume Paths

Variable Description Default
OPENMRS_CONFIG_CHECKSUMS_PATH Initializer checksums openmrs-config-checksums
OPENMRS_PERSON_IMAGES_PATH Patient/person photos openmrs-person-images
OPENMRS_COMPLEX_OBS_PATH Complex observations openmrs-complex-obs

Backup Configuration

Repository Settings

Variable Description Default Example
RESTIC_REPOSITORY Backup repository URL /restic_data s3:s3.amazonaws.com/bucket
RESTIC_PASSWORD Repository encryption password password (use strong password)
BACKUP_PATH Local directory for backups ./openmrs_backup /mnt/backups

Security: Use a strong, unique password for RESTIC_PASSWORD and store it securely!

Schedule Settings

Variable Description Default Example
RESTIC_CRON_SCHEDULE Backup schedule (cron format) */5 * * * * 0 2 * * *
RESTIC_LOG_LEVEL Logging verbosity info debug

Retention Settings

Variable Description Default
RESTIC_KEEP_DAILY Daily snapshots to keep 7
RESTIC_KEEP_WEEKLY Weekly snapshots to keep 4
RESTIC_KEEP_MONTHLY Monthly snapshots to keep 12
RESTIC_KEEP_YEARLY Yearly snapshots to keep 3

Restore Settings

Variable Description Example
RESTIC_RESTORE_SNAPSHOT Snapshot ID or tag to restore latest

Gateway Configuration

Variable Description Default
FRAME_ANCESTORS CSP frame-ancestors directive 'self'

Cloud Backup Storage

For cloud storage backends, additional variables may be required:

Amazon S3 

RESTIC_REPOSITORY=s3:s3.amazonaws.com/your-bucket
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key

Azure Blob Storage 

RESTIC_REPOSITORY=azure:your-container:/
AZURE_ACCOUNT_NAME=your-account-name
AZURE_ACCOUNT_KEY=your-account-key

Google Cloud Storage 

RESTIC_REPOSITORY=gs:your-bucket:/
GOOGLE_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/credentials.json

Example .env File

Here’s a complete example for production:

# Docker image tag
TAG=latest-akram

# Database (change these for production!)
OMRS_DB_USER=openmrs
OMRS_DB_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your-secure-root-password

# Backup configuration
RESTIC_REPOSITORY=/restic_data
RESTIC_PASSWORD=your-secure-backup-password
RESTIC_CRON_SCHEDULE=0 2 * * *
BACKUP_PATH=./openmrs_backup

# Retention
RESTIC_KEEP_DAILY=7
RESTIC_KEEP_WEEKLY=4
RESTIC_KEEP_MONTHLY=12
RESTIC_KEEP_YEARLY=3
RESTIC_LOG_LEVEL=info

# Restore (only used during restore)
RESTIC_RESTORE_SNAPSHOT=latest

Cron Schedule Format

The RESTIC_CRON_SCHEDULE uses standard cron format:

┌───────────── minute (0 - 59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0 - 6)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Examples:

  • 0 2 * * * - Daily at 2:00 AM
  • 0 */6 * * * - Every 6 hours
  • 0 3 * * 0 - Weekly on Sunday at 3:00 AM
  • */5 * * * * - Every 5 minutes (default, for testing)

Applying Changes

After modifying .env, restart the affected services:

# Restart all services
docker compose down && docker compose up -d

# Or restart specific service
docker compose restart backend
docker compose restart backup