How do I secure postgres Username and password in Docker compose

Question

My docker-compose file is

version: '3.7'
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:10.18-alpine3.14
    container_name: postgres
    hostname: postgres
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER : admin
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD : Pass@4321
      PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata

Here user name and password is plain text. How can I secure my credentials in docker-compose.

larsks · Accepted Answer · 2022-04-21 13:34:09Z

4

Rather than hardcoding your username and password in your docker-compose.yaml, one option is to replace them with variables, like this:

version: '3.7'
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:10.18-alpine3.14
    container_name: postgres
    hostname: postgres
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER : $POSTGRES_USER
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD : $POSTGRES_PASSWORD
      PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata

And then set them in your .env file:

POSTGRES_USER=admin
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=Pass@4321

When you docker-compose up your application, docker-compose will substitute the appropriate values.

answered Apr 21, 2022 at 13:34

larsks

318k49 gold badges473 silver badges482 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Nephilim Over a year ago

How is this more secure? It's plain text in a file right next to it

larsks Over a year ago

@Nephilim by moving the passwords into a .env file, you can share your compose file without also sharing your passwords. The .env file doesn't have to be (in general, should not be) part of your repository. This also makes it easier to use the same passwords in multiple places in your compose file (e.g., if you have an application that needs to interact with postgres).

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How do I secure postgres Username and password in Docker compose

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related