Laravel - custom .env file

Question

Laravel assumes that .env file should describe environment, and it should not be committed to your repo.

What if I want to keep both .env f

Answer 1

I'd like to share my two cents on this, for team working on different machines / hosts. I create a directory env on app's root, containing:

• a .master.env file with the main and shared configuration.
• a .name file containing only a string with the environment's name for specific machine / purpose (e.g. "server1")
• the specific .env file matching the name defined above, e.g. .server1.env.

Then, in bootstrap/app.php:

/**
 * master config
 */
$app->useEnvironmentPath(__DIR__.'/../env');
$app->loadEnvironmentFrom('.master.env');

/**
 * config overloading
 */
$app->afterLoadingEnvironment(function() use($app) {
    $envFile = trim(file_get_contents($app->environmentPath().'/.name'));
    if ($envFile && file_exists($app->environmentPath().'/.' .$envFile .'.env')) {
        $dotenv = Dotenv\Dotenv::create($app->environmentPath(), '.'.$envFile.'.env');
        $dotenv->overload();
    }
});

Now you can selectively override configuration keys for specific machines and if you don't have security issues you can put the env files in VCS , as long as you ignore the `.name' file.

Working in Laravel 5.8.