Скачать или смотреть How to Pass Environment Variables from Nginx to Vue.js

Learn how to effectively pass environment variables from Nginx to Vue.js and ensure your app retrieves the right API URLs dynamically.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/67480371/ asked by the user 'Yuma Nakamura' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/8980928/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/67480682/ provided by the user 'Jesse Reza Khorasanee' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/2217801/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Introduction: The Challenge of Environment Variables in Vue.js

If you’ve ever worked on a Vue.js application served by Nginx, you may have encountered challenges when trying to use environment variables. A frequent problem developers face is updating API URLs based on dynamic environment variables at runtime.

In this guide, we’ll address how to effectively pass environment variables from Nginx to a Vue.js project, specifically for dynamic API URLs. This is particularly crucial for teams that deploy different environments, such as development, staging, and production, where services may be hosted on different IP addresses or ports.

Understanding the Problem

In the provided example, there is a configuration for an API URL within a Vue.js project. The intention was to replace a hardcoded IP address with an environment variable, which would be dynamically interpreted during the runtime of the application:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The developer aimed to automate the filling of {{IP_ADDRESS}} using envsubst in a Docker setup.

Despite successfully replacing the values within the Docker container, when inspecting the application in the browser, the output still showed the placeholder format, indicating that the Vue.js application did not receive the updated value of IP_ADDRESS as expected.

Why the Issue Occurs

The core issue here is that Vue.js applications typically go through a build process that bundles JavaScript files using tools like Webpack. During this build process, static files are processed, and any variable not specifically coded to be dynamic will retain the placeholder text.

This means that by the time the application is served, any changes made dynamically to apiURLs.js are not considered, as they are overshadowed by the pre-compiled bundled JavaScript files.

Solution Steps

1. Validate Build Process

To resolve this, you need to ensure that the application gets rebuilt after setting the correct environment variables. Follow these steps:

Navigate to the Docker container where your Vue.js project is hosted.

Rebuild your Vue.js application using:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This command processes the environment variables set and ensures that they replace any placeholders present in your JavaScript files.

2. Modify the Docker-compose Configuration

To automate this process during container startup, ensure your docker-compose.yml is properly set up to execute the build command right after replacing environment variables. Here is an improved example:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Make sure this command runs in sequence so that apiUrls.js is populated before the build step.

3. Clear Browser Cache

In your browser, ensure you’re viewing the most up-to-date build of your application. Disable cache:

Open Chrome Developer Tools

Go to the Network tab

Check the "Disable cache" checkbox while inspecting the site.

This prevents the browser from loading outdated versions of your JavaScript files, ensuring your latest changes are reflected.

Conclusion

Passing environment variables from Nginx to a Vue.js application is indeed possible, but it requires thoughtful integration of the build process with dynamic configurations. By following the methods outlined above, you can ensure that your API URLs reflect the intended environment variable values.

Remember: when working with Docker and Vue.js, always consider the implications of the build and serve lifecycle. This approach helps maintain a clean and efficient development process that adapts seamlessly to different environments.

By incorporating these strategies, your application will dynamically adapt based on the environment you’re deploying to, thus enhanc