dotenv setup

We use dotenv to manage our environment variables, in dev, test, and production. In your code, wherever you have a value that shouldn’t be checked into version control (e.g., a password), or a value that will vary depending on server name (e.g., a URL config for rails), put it in an environment variable instead and reference it by calling ENV['WHATEVER'] in your code.

1. Add dotenv-rails to your gemfile at the top level. Do not restrict it to only being in the dev and test groups. Run bundle install
2. Create a file called dotenv.sample in the root of your project. You’ll populate this with empty values for every environment variable you end up setting, so a new user of the project has a starting place.
3. Create a file called .env.development to hold your local development settings
4. Create a file called .env.test for local and CI testing settings
5. Create a file called .env.production to hold the settings for the production server(s)
6. Add .env.development, .env.test and .env.production to .gitignore
7. Whenever you need to reference a value, add it to those files and reference it as an environment variable
8. Add .env.production to your Capistrano deploy’s linked files. You’ll need to copy .env.production to your production Rails server’s shared directory (where the linked files live) manually.