Environment Settings

Environments are how Portway keeps your development, testing, and production worlds from bleeding into each other. Their settings control database connections, the allowed environment list, and per-environment behavior. This page covers the files involved and what you can configure in each.

File structure ​

Environment configuration files are organized in the following structure:

/environments/
  ├── [EnvironmentName]/             # Environment-specific folders
  │   └── settings.json              # Environment-specific settings
  ├── settings.json                  # Global settings
  └── network-access-policy.json     # Network security policy

Global settings ​

The root settings.json file defines which environments are allowed:

File location ​

/environments/settings.json

Configuration structure ​

{
  "Environment": {
    "ServerName": "SERVERNAME",
    "AllowedEnvironments": ["prod", "dev", "test"]
  }
}

Property reference ​

Environment-Specific settings ​

Each environment has its own configuration file with connection details:

File location ​

/environments/[EnvironmentName]/settings.json

Basic configuration ​

{
  "ServerName": "SERVERNAME",
  "ConnectionString": "Server=SERVERNAME;Database=prod;Trusted_Connection=True;Connection Timeout=15;TrustServerCertificate=true;",
  "Headers": {
    "DatabaseName": "prod",
    "ServerName": "SERVERNAME",
    "Origin": "Portway"
  }
}

Property reference ​

Headers configuration ​

Custom headers added to all requests for this environment:

Network access policy ​

Controls which hosts and IP ranges are allowed for proxy requests:

File location ​

/environments/network-access-policy.json

Configuration structure ​

{
  "allowedHosts": [
    "localhost",
    "127.0.0.1"
  ],
  "blockedIpRanges": [
    "10.0.0.0/8",
    "172.16.0.0/12",
    "192.168.0.0/16",
    "169.254.0.0/16"
  ]
}

Property reference ​

Examples ​

Production environment ​

/environments/prod/settings.json

{
  "ServerName": "SQLPROD01",
  "ConnectionString": "Server=SQLPROD01;Database=ProductionDB;User Id=svc_portway;Password=${PROD_DB_PASSWORD};Connection Timeout=30;TrustServerCertificate=false;Encrypt=true;",
  "Headers": {
    "DatabaseName": "ProductionDB",
    "ServerName": "SQLPROD01",
    "Environment": "Production",
    "X-Strict-Mode": "true"
  }
}

Development environment ​

/environments/dev/settings.json

{
  "ServerName": "SQLDEV01",
  "ConnectionString": "Server=SQLDEV01;Database=DevelopmentDB;Trusted_Connection=True;Connection Timeout=15;TrustServerCertificate=true;",
  "Headers": {
    "DatabaseName": "DevelopmentDB",
    "ServerName": "SQLDEV01",
    "Environment": "Development",
    "X-Debug-Mode": "true"
  }
}

Connection string configuration ​

The ConnectionString value determines both the target database and the SQL driver Portway uses. No additional property is needed, the provider is detected automatically from the connection string itself.

{
  "ConnectionString": "Server=SERVER;Database=DB;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=true;"
}

SQL providers carries a worked connection string for each supported database, the parameter tables, the detection algorithm and the capability differences between providers.

SQLite paths are resolved relative to the Portway application working directory. SQLite connection strings carry no credentials and are not subject to automatic encryption or masking.

Variables ​

Sensitive values can use environment variables:

{
  "ConnectionString": "Server=SQLPROD;Database=ProdDB;User Id=svc_portway;Password=${PROD_DB_PASSWORD};"
}

Supported variables:

• ${VARIABLE_NAME} - Replaced at runtime
• Azure Key Vault integration (if configured)

Security notes ​

The network access policy in network-access-policy.json prevents Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) by blocking private IP ranges and restricting proxy target hosts. Use separate database credentials per environment, and set Encrypt=true; TrustServerCertificate=false on production SQL Server connections.

Troubleshooting ​

See the troubleshooting guide.

Related topics ​

• Entity Configuration
• Security Guide
• Deployment Guide
• Application Settings