pgbrEnvironment Variables
Every variable pgbr reads, which service reads it, and what happens when it's unset.
Which service reads what
| Variable | Dashboard | Worker | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
DATABASE_URL | Yes | Yes | Yes |
REDIS_URL | Yes | Yes | Defaulted |
ENCRYPTION_KEY | Yes | Yes | Yes |
AUTH_SECRET | Yes | — | Recommended |
BASE_URL | Yes | — | Yes, unless localhost |
WORKER_CONCURRENCY | — | Yes | Defaulted |
STORAGE_* | Yes | Yes | Defaulted |
The practical takeaway: DATABASE_URL, REDIS_URL, ENCRYPTION_KEY, and the
STORAGE_* set must match on both services. Put them in one .env file and
pass it to both containers.
Core
DATABASE_URL
The PostgreSQL connection string for pgbr's own metadata — users, connections, job history, schedules. Not a database you're backing up.
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/pgbrRequired by both services, and by drizzle-kit generate (which needs it set but
never connects). The dashboard's entrypoint runs migrations against it on boot.
REDIS_URL
The Redis connection for the job queue.
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379Defaults to redis://localhost:6379, which is essentially never right inside
Docker. Set it.
ENCRYPTION_KEY
Encrypts stored connection strings and storage secrets. Any length — it's hashed to a 32-byte key with SHA-256.
ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -base64 32)Must be identical on the dashboard and the worker, and must never change once a connection is saved. There is no rotation flow: change it and every stored connection string and storage secret becomes permanently undecryptable. Back it up somewhere other than the machine running pgbr.
Encryption and decryption throw if it's missing — the failure surfaces the first time a connection is used, not at boot.
Dashboard
AUTH_SECRET
Signs user sessions.
AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32)If unset, the dashboard's entrypoint generates a temporary one at startup and logs that it did. Each restart then invalidates every session, and multiple dashboard replicas can't share sessions at all. Set it explicitly.
BASE_URL
The public base URL of your instance.
BASE_URL=https://pgbr.example.comRequired for any deployment you don't reach directly on localhost. Set it to
the URL you type in the browser, including the scheme.
Auth builds its set of trusted origins from this value, so leaving it unset means
sign-in fails with Invalid origin. Detection from the incoming request does not
save you behind a reverse proxy: the proxy's X-Forwarded-Host is ignored on this
path, so what gets trusted is the container's own internal address rather than
your public URL.
This is a server-side variable. The browser always calls auth on the origin it
loaded the page from, so there's nothing to configure there and no
NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL.
http://localhost:3000 and http://<container-hostname>:3000 are trusted
regardless, which is why a local docker compose run works without this. Every
other origin — a public domain, a LAN IP, a non-3000 port — needs it set, or
auth rejects the request with INVALID_ORIGIN.
Worker
WORKER_CONCURRENCY
How many jobs each queue processes concurrently. Defaults to 5.
WORKER_CONCURRENCY=3This is per queue, not per worker. At the default, one worker can be running 5
backups, 5 restores, and 5 migrations simultaneously — 15 pg_dump/pg_restore
processes, each with a database connection and scratch disk. Size it against your
database's max_connections and the worker's disk, not against how fast you'd
like the queue to drain.
Any non-numeric value silently falls back to 5.
Storage
All six default to the SeaweedFS service the Compose files start, so a fresh install works untouched. Point them at any S3-compatible store to swap it out.
A connection saved from the settings page overrides all of these, silently. The settings page shows which source is active.
STORAGE_ENDPOINT
The S3-compatible endpoint URL. Default http://seaweedfs:8333.
STORAGE_REGION
Default us-east-1. Must match your bucket's region; R2 uses auto.
STORAGE_BUCKET
Default pgbr. Created automatically if missing and your credentials allow it.
STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID
Default pgbr.
STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
Default pgbrsecret.
The SeaweedFS defaults are published in this documentation and the repository. They're only safe because the default store isn't reachable outside the Docker network. Never expose it.
STORAGE_FORCE_PATH_STYLE
Default true. Accepts true or 1 as true; anything else is false.
true→https://endpoint/bucket/key— MinIO, SeaweedFSfalse→https://bucket.endpoint/key— S3, R2, B2
Getting this wrong usually shows up as a DNS or 404 error that doesn't mention addressing.
Build-time
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
NODE_ENV | Set to production in both images. |
NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED | Set to 1 in the dashboard image. |
PORT | The dashboard's listen port. Defaults to 3000. |
HOSTNAME | Set to 0.0.0.0 in the dashboard image so it accepts external connections. |
A complete example
# Shared — must match on both services
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://pgbr:secret@postgres:5432/pgbr
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
ENCRYPTION_KEY=hX8vN2mQ4pR7tY1wZ3aB5cD6eF9gH0jK2lM4nP6qR8s=
# Dashboard only
AUTH_SECRET=aB3cD5eF7gH9jK1lM3nP5qR7sT9uV1wX3yZ5aB7cD9e=
BASE_URL=https://pgbr.example.com
# Worker only
WORKER_CONCURRENCY=3
# Object storage — must match on both services
STORAGE_ENDPOINT=https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
STORAGE_REGION=us-east-1
STORAGE_BUCKET=my-pgbr-backups
STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
STORAGE_FORCE_PATH_STYLE=falseThe secrets above are examples. Generate your own — anything in documentation is public by definition.