Environments
Environments in Forest Admin allow you to switch context:
different set of data
different layout configuration
To create a new environment, go to your Project settings (1):
Then from the Environments tab, click on "+ New test environment" (2).
Fill out the 2 fields and click "Saves changes" (3).
Lastly, you need to copy your environment secret to your .env file as follows:
FOREST_ENV_SECRET=2b54ca2d2290b2b32c548b47c12321...
When you've connected at least once on your new environment, the yellow warning message will disappear.
Your .env file also contains a FOREST_AUTH_SECRET: it is a private token - chosen by yourself - used to sign the data token and protect your Admin backend.
Your .env file should not be versioned, as it depends on the environment.
Forest Admin is meant to help you manage your operations: this can only happen if you work with your Production data! To do so, you need to create your Production environment.
Click "Deploy to production" on the top banner or the Environments tab of your Project settings.
Deploying is a 3-step process:
Deploy your code to a remote server
Set
DATABASE_URL,FOREST_ENV_SECRETandFOREST_AUTH_SECRETas environment variablesDATABASE_URL: use this syntaxdialect://user:password@host:port/dbname
Enter that remote server's url in the Application URL field and click Verify
See how we do it step-by-step on Heroku or on a standard ubuntu server.
Developing in Forest Admin depends on your level of expectations:
The light & quick process
Make your UI changes directly in Production
Smart features which require code updates in your Admin backend can be developed in a Dev environment, then pushed to Production.
The safe & controlled process
Paul - a developer in your organization - is in charge of implementing a new Smart Action for the Operations team:
Since he wants to work from the existing layout of the Operations team, he retrieves it to his own environment "Dev - Paul":
From the Environments tab of the Project settings, he copies the layout configuration of the Production environment to his own environment: Dev - Paul
From the Teams tab, he copies the layout configuration of the Operations team to his own team (ie: Technical team)
He works locally on his "Dev - Paul" environment until the Smart Action is functional
At this point, he can deploy (his code) to production or to a testing environment (ie: staging) depending on his team's process
N.B: Test environments can be created programmatically using our "toolbelt"
