How to set .env values in laravel programmatically on the fly

Question

I have a custom CMS that I am writing from scratch in Laravel and want to set env values i.e. database details, mailer details, general configuration, etc from

Answer 1

You can use this custom method i located from internet ,

  /**
 * Calls the method 
 */
public function something(){
    // some code
    $env_update = $this->changeEnv([
        'DB_DATABASE'   => 'new_db_name',
        'DB_USERNAME'   => 'new_db_user',
        'DB_HOST'       => 'new_db_host'
    ]);
    if($env_update){
        // Do something
    } else {
        // Do something else
    }
    // more code
}

protected function changeEnv($data = array()){
        if(count($data) > 0){

            // Read .env-file
            $env = file_get_contents(base_path() . '/.env');

            // Split string on every " " and write into array
            $env = preg_split('/\s+/', $env);;

            // Loop through given data
            foreach((array)$data as $key => $value){

                // Loop through .env-data
                foreach($env as $env_key => $env_value){

                    // Turn the value into an array and stop after the first split
                    // So it's not possible to split e.g. the App-Key by accident
                    $entry = explode("=", $env_value, 2);

                    // Check, if new key fits the actual .env-key
                    if($entry[0] == $key){
                        // If yes, overwrite it with the new one
                        $env[$env_key] = $key . "=" . $value;
                    } else {
                        // If not, keep the old one
                        $env[$env_key] = $env_value;
                    }
                }
            }

            // Turn the array back to an String
            $env = implode("\n", $env);

            // And overwrite the .env with the new data
            file_put_contents(base_path() . '/.env', $env);

            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }

Answer 2

tl;dr

Based on vesperknight's answer I created a solution that doesn't use strtok or env().

private function setEnvironmentValue($envKey, $envValue)
{
    $envFile = app()->environmentFilePath();
    $str = file_get_contents($envFile);

    $str .= "\n"; // In case the searched variable is in the last line without \n
    $keyPosition = strpos($str, "{$envKey}=");
    $endOfLinePosition = strpos($str, PHP_EOL, $keyPosition);
    $oldLine = substr($str, $keyPosition, $endOfLinePosition - $keyPosition);
    $str = str_replace($oldLine, "{$envKey}={$envValue}", $str);
    $str = substr($str, 0, -1);

    $fp = fopen($envFile, 'w');
    fwrite($fp, $str);
    fclose($fp);
}

Explanation

This doesn't use strtok that might not work for some people, or env() that won't work with double-quoted .env variables which are evaluated and also interpolates embedded variables

KEY="Something with spaces or variables ${KEY2}"

Answer 3

This solution builds upon the one provided by Elias Tutungi, it accepts multiple value changes and uses a Laravel Collection because foreach's are gross

    function set_environment_value($values = [])
    {
        $path = app()->environmentFilePath();

        collect($values)->map(function ($value, $key) use ($path) {
            $escaped = preg_quote('='.env($key), '/');

            file_put_contents($path, preg_replace(
                "/^{$key}{$escaped}/m",
               "{$key}={$value}",
               file_get_contents($path)
            ));
        });

        return true;
    }

Answer 4

Replace single value in .env file function:

/**
 * @param string $key
 * @param string $value
 * @param null $env_path
 */
function set_env(string $key, string $value, $env_path = null)
{
    $value = preg_replace('/\s+/', '', $value); //replace special ch
    $key = strtoupper($key); //force upper for security
    $env = file_get_contents(isset($env_path) ? $env_path : base_path('.env')); //fet .env file
    $env = str_replace("$key=" . env($key), "$key=" . $value, $env); //replace value
    /** Save file eith new content */
    $env = file_put_contents(isset($env_path) ? $env_path : base_path('.env'), $env);
}

Example to local (laravel) use: set_env('APP_VERSION', 1.8).

Example to use custom path: set_env('APP_VERSION', 1.8, $envfilepath).

Answer 5

In the event that you want these settings to be persisted to the environment file so they be loaded again later (even if the configuration is cached), you can use a function like this. I'll put the security caveat in there, that calls to a method like this should be gaurded tightly and user input should be sanitized properly.

private function setEnvironmentValue($environmentName, $configKey, $newValue) {
    file_put_contents(App::environmentFilePath(), str_replace(
        $environmentName . '=' . Config::get($configKey),
        $environmentName . '=' . $newValue,
        file_get_contents(App::environmentFilePath())
    ));

    Config::set($configKey, $newValue);

    // Reload the cached config       
    if (file_exists(App::getCachedConfigPath())) {
        Artisan::call("config:cache");
    }
}

An example of it's use would be;

$this->setEnvironmentValue('APP_LOG_LEVEL', 'app.log_level', 'debug');

$environmentName is the key in the environment file (example.. APP_LOG_LEVEL)

$configKey is the key used to access the configuration at runtime (example.. app.log_level (tinker config('app.log_level')).

$newValue is of course the new value you wish to persist.

Answer 6

#more simple way to cover .env you can do like this

$_ENV['key'] = 'value';