Methods to retailer keys in env recordsdata?

Utilizing the Setting in Vapor 4

Similar to many common server aspect frameworks, your Vapor based mostly backend software can load a file referred to as .env. It’s attainable to retailer key-value based mostly (secret) configuration values inside this file. While you run the app, one of many following file shall be loaded, based mostly on the present surroundings:

• Manufacturing (.env)
• Growth (.env.improvement)
• Testing (.env.testing)

While you execute your assessments the .env.testing file shall be used. Should you begin the app utilizing the serve Vapor command you can even change the surroundings utilizing the --env or -e flag. The accessible choices are manufacturing and improvement, and the corresponding .env file shall be loaded. It’s attainable to create a customized surroundings, you possibly can learn extra about this within the official Vapor docs. The .env file normally incorporates one key and worth per line, now the issue begins whenever you wish to retailer a multiline secret key within the file. So what can we do about this? 🤔

Base64 encoded secret keys

Sure, we are able to encode the key key utilizing a base64 encoding. No, I do not wish to copy my secrets and techniques into an on-line base64 encoder, as a result of there’s a fairly easy shell command that I can use.

echo "<my-secret-key>" | base64

Should you do not like unix instructions, we are able to at all times put collectively somewhat Swift script and use an extension on the String kind to encode keys. Simply save the snippet from under right into a base64.swift file, put your key into the important thing part, give the file some executable permission & run it utilizing the chmod o+x && ./base64.swift one-liner command and voilá…

#! /usr/bin/swift

import Basis

extension String {

    func base64Encoded() -> String? {
        return information(utilizing: .utf8)?.base64EncodedString()
    }
}

let key = """
    <my-secret-key-comes-here>
"""

print(key.base64Encoded()!)

You’ll be able to copy & paste the encoded worth of the key key into your individual .env.* file, exchange the asterix image along with your present surroundings after all, earlier than you do it. 🙈

//e.g. .env.improvement
SECRET_KEY="<base64-encoded-secret-key>"

Now we simply need to decode this key by some means, earlier than we are able to begin utilizing it…

Decoding the key key

You’ll be able to implement a base64 decoder as a String extension with only a few traces of Swift code.

import Basis

extension String {

    func base64Decoded() -> String? {
        guard let information = Information(base64Encoded: self) else { return nil }
        return String(information: information, encoding: .utf8)
    }
}

Now in my initiatives I like to increase the Setting object and place all my customized variables there as static constants, this fashion I can entry them in a extremely handy approach, plus if one thing goes flawed (normally after I do not re-create the .env file after a git reset or I haven’t got all of the variables current within the dotenv file) the app will crash due to the compelled unwraps, and I will know for positive that one thing is flawed with my surroundings. It is a crash for my very own security. 💥

import Vapor

extension Setting {
    static let secretKey = Self.get("SECRET_KEY")!.base64Decoded()!
}


Setting.secretKey

I believe this method could be very helpful. After all you need to place the .env.* sample into your .gitignore file, in any other case in case you place some secrets and techniques into the dotenv file and also you push that into the distant… effectively, everybody else will know your keys, passwords, and so forth. You don’t need that, proper? ⚠️

Be happy to make use of this technique when it’s important to implement a Register With Apple workflow, or a Apple Push Notification service (APNs). In these circumstances you will positively need to cross one ore extra secret keys to your Vapor based mostly backend software. That is it for now, thanks for studying.