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---
#https://www.notion.so/n8n/Frontmatter-432c2b8dff1f43d4b1c8d20075510fe4
title: Configuration methods
description: How to set environment variables for n8n.
contentType: howto
---
# Configuration
You can change n8n's settings using environment variables. For a full list of available configurations see [Environment Variables](/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/index.md).
## Set environment variables by command line
### npm
For npm, set your desired environment variables in terminal using the `export` command as shown below:
```bash
export <variable>=<value>
```
### Docker
In Docker you can use the `-e` flag from the command line:
```bash
docker run -it --rm \
--name n8n \
-p 5678:5678 \
-e N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED="false" \
docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
```
## Set environment variables using a file
You can also configure n8n using a configuration file.
Only define the values that need to be different from the default in your configuration file. You can use multiple files. For example, you can have a file with generic base settings, and files with specific values for different environments.
### npm
Set the path to the JSON configuration file using the environment variable `N8N_CONFIG_FILES`:
```shell
# Bash - Single file
export N8N_CONFIG_FILES=/<path-to-config>/my-config.json
# Bash - Multiple files are comma-separated
export N8N_CONFIG_FILES=/<path-to-config>/my-config.json,/<path-to-config>/production.json
# PowerShell - Single file, persist for current user
# Note that setting scope (Process, User, Machine) has no effect on Unix systems
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('N8N_CONFIG_FILES', '<path-to-config>\config.json', 'User')
```
Example file:
```json
{
"executions": {
"saveDataOnSuccess": "none"
},
"generic": {
"timezone": "Europe/Berlin"
},
"nodes": {
"exclude": "[\"n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand\",\"n8n-nodes-base.writeBinaryFile\"]"
}
}
```
/// note | Formatting as JSON
You can't always work out the correct JSON from the [Environment variables reference](/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/index.md). For example, to set `N8N_METRICS` to `true`, you need to do:
```json
{
"endpoints": {
"metrics": {
"enable": true
}
}
}
```
Refer to the [Schema file in the source code](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/packages/cli/src/config/schema.ts){:target=_blank .external-link} for full details of the expected settings.
///
### Docker
In Docker, you can set your environment variables in the `n8n: environment:` element of your `docker-compose.yaml` file.
For example:
```yaml
n8n:
environment:
- N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED=false
```
### Keeping sensitive data in separate files
You can append `_FILE` to individual environment variables to provide their configuration in a separate file, enabling you to avoid passing sensitive details using environment variables. n8n loads the data from the file with the given name, making it possible to load data from [Docker-Secrets](https://docs.docker.com/engine/swarm/secrets/){:target=_blank .external-link} and [Kubernetes-Secrets](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/secret/){:target=_blank .external-link}.
Refer to [Environment variables](/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/index.md) for details on each variable.
While most environment variables can use the `_FILE` suffix, it's more beneficial for sensitive data such as [credentials](/glossary.md#credential-n8n) and database configuration. Here are some examples:
```yaml
CREDENTIALS_OVERWRITE_DATA_FILE=/path/to/credentials_data
DB_TYPE_FILE=/path/to/db_type
DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE_FILE=/path/to/database_name
DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST_FILE=/path/to/database_host
DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT_FILE=/path/to/database_port
DB_POSTGRESDB_USER_FILE=/path/to/database_user
DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD_FILE=/path/to/database_password
DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA_FILE=/path/to/database_schema
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CA_FILE=/path/to/ssl_ca
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CERT_FILE=/path/to/ssl_cert
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_KEY_FILE=/path/to/ssl_key
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED_FILE=/path/to/ssl_reject_unauth
```
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