Environment variables define key settings that influence or control how your workspace is deployed and configured. This topic covers the mandatory and optional deployment environment variables available to help you successfully deploy your workspace according to your needs.
Each recommended deployment method discusses how to set up these environment variables in its respective documentation. Using the most common deployment method, deploy with Docker & Docker Compose, these variables can be set within the environment section under the rocketchat service in your compose.yml file. Refer to the Kubernetes, Docker, and Snap documentation for specific setup instructions.
Mandatory environment variables
Most mandatory environment variables are included by default in your deployment, so verify this before making further changes.
Name | Description | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Set the variable to your preferred Rocket.Chat release version. For example: | See our releases page and available docker images. Keeping the default release as |
| The URL where your Rocket.Chat instance will be hosted on. In other words the URL you will enter on your browser to access Rocket.Chat. | Format is |
| Port your Rocket.Chat instance will bind to. | If served under a FQDN (which is recommended) this doesn't matter much, as long as the configured one is not in reserved range and doesn't collide with any other services. |
| MongoDB connection string. | Read MongoDB's official documentation to understand this better. Usage also depends on your deployment method of choice. |
| MongoDB connection string to the | Similar to the above, except this points directly to the |
Optional environment variables
Name | Description | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Which IP the node (or main Rocket.Chat) process will bind to. | If intended to be accessed under a domain, which is recommended, users should set this to the loopback address (i.e. |
| Admin user's username. | Admin user can be created automatically on deployment. Set this to your admin user's desired username. Mandatory if any of the other ADMIN_* variables are passed for a successful account creation. |
| Admin user's name. | Mandatory if any of the other ADMIN_* variables are passed for a successful account creation. |
| Admin user's password (in plaintext). | Mandatory if any of the other ADMIN_* variables are passed for a successful account creation. |
| Admin user's email address. | Mandatory if any of the other ADMIN_* variables are passed for a successful account creation. |
| The number of proxies in front of Rocket.Chat. | If not configured, it defaults to 1 as Rocket.Chat assumes there’s always a proxy in front of it. This variable should be properly configured to avoid security and performance issues regarding rate limiting and other controls. |
| The Rocket.Chat IP address accessible by other Rocket.Chat servers when scaling multiple instances. | It enables instances to communicate directly with each other. This direct communication is essential for transmitting ephemeral events, such as user typing indicators, between instances. |
| Enable the | The |
| Modify the amount of time (in milliseconds) it takes for an app to respond to a call. By default, the timeout is 30 seconds. | You can use this variable to set longer timeouts if you have apps with larger operations. |
After configuring the mandatory and optional deployment environment variables, see how to manage your workspace settings with environment variables in the next topic.