Alert supports initial configuration of the Alert application such as configuring authentication, database, providers, and channels using environment variables. What you don’t configure here, you can configure in the Alert GUI.
Environment variable values are only used if there is no configuration data for the corresponding component in the database. Refer to the Environment Variable Classifications to understand how environment variables pertain to Alert configuration data. Edit the docker-compose.local-overrides.yml file to include the environment variables.

Editing the overrides file

Verify that alert: is uncommented from the service section, otherwise uncomment the alert: of docker-compose.local-overrides.yml.
Uncomment environment: from the alert service section of docker-compose.local-overrides.yml.
Environment variables have the format - <VARIABLE_NAME>=<VARIABLE_VALUE>
Environment variables are commented out in the docker-compose.local-overrides.yml file.
Uncomment the environment variables to be used from the environment: section of the alert service.

Example:

alert:
    environment:
        - ALERT_HOSTNAME=localhost

Alert hostname variable

The ALERT_HOSTNAME environment variable must be specified in order for Alert to generate and use certificates correctly.

Add the ALERT_HOSTNAME environment variable. (The value must be the hostname only.)
- Editing overrides file:
alert: environment: - ALERT_HOSTNAME=<NEW_HOST_NAME>
- Replace <NEW_HOST_NAME> with the hostname of the machine on which Alert is installed.
Do not add the protocol or scheme to the value of the variable, for example:
- Good format: ALERT_HOSTNAME=myhost.example.com
- Bad format: ALERT_HOSTNAME=https://myhost.example.com

Alert database variables

There are more environment variables that control how Alert connects to a database, independent of the user and password secrets. These include POSTGRES_DB in the alertdb service, and ALERT_DB_HOST, ALERT_DB_PORT, and ALERT_DB_NAME in the alert service.

Change the POSTGRES_DB in the alertdb service if you want to use a different database name
- Editing the overrides file:
  alertdb: # Comment or remove the POSTGRES_USER and POSTGRES_PASSWORD if secrets are used for credentials. environment: - POSTGRES_DB=<DB_NAME>
- Replace <DB_NAME> with the name of the database to create in Postgres to store Alert data.

The following variables in the overrides file are under the yaml # -- Database Settings comment in the alert service section.

Add the ALERT_DB_HOST environment variable only if the alertdb service is using a different hostname (The value must be the hostname only of the database.)
- Editing overrides file:
- Replace <DB_HOST_NAME> with the hostname of the machine where Postgres is installed.
- Do not add the protocol, also known as scheme to the value of the variable.
  - Good: ALERT_DB_HOST=myhost.example.com
  - Bad: ALERT_DB_HOST=https://myhost.example.com
Add the ALERT_DB_PORT environment variable if the alertdb service is running on a different port than the default
- Editing overrides file:
- Replace <DB_PORT> with the port used by the Postgres database (default is 5432)
Add the ALERT_DB_NAME environment variable if the POSTGRES_DB variable name of the alertdb service is not the default
- Editing overrides file:
- Replace <DB_NAME> with the name of the database created in Postgres to store Alert data
- <DB_NAME> Should match the value in the POSTGRES_DB variable of the alertdb service

Alert logging level variable

To change the logging level of Alert add the following environment variable to the deployment.

Editing overrides file:
Set the value to one of the following:
- DEBUG
- ERROR
- INFO
- TRACE
- WARN

Email channel environment variables

A majority of the Email Channel environment variables that can be set are related to JavaMail configuration properties. The JavaMail properties can be found here at JavaMail Properties

The Email Channel environment variables have a prefix of ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_
The remaining portion of the variable, after the prefix, map to the JavaMail properties if the '_' character is replaced with '.'

Examples:

ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_HOST maps to mail.smtp.host
ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_PORT maps to mail.smtp.port

Environment variable classifications

There are certain classifications with the environment variables expressed by a specific naming convention: ALERT_<CLASSIFICATION>_<ITEM_NAME>_<CONFIGURATION_PROPERTY>

Provider: The environment variables to configure these components start with ALERT_PROVIDER_
Channel: The environment variables to configure these components start with ALERT_CHANNEL_
Component: The environment variables to configure these components start with ALERT_COMPONENT_

Examples
The following are some examples of what can be set. the blackduck-alert.env file has a more comprehensive list.

Provider:
- ALERT_PROVIDER_BLACKDUCK_BLACKDUCK_URL= The URL for the Black Duck server.
Channel:
- ALERT_CHANNEL_JIRA_CLOUD_JIRA_CLOUD_URL= The URL for the Jira Cloud server.
- ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_HOST= The SMTP host used to send email messages.
Component:
- ALERT_COMPONENT_AUTHENTICATION_SETTINGS_LDAP_ENABLED= Boolean to determine if LDAP authentication is used.

Global Distribution Channel Environment Variables

Email

Environment Variable	Description	Required

Environment Variable	Description	Required
ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_HOST	The host name of the email server to be used for sending emails to recipients.	Yes
ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_FROM	The email address of the sender that Alert will use for sending emails.	Yes
ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_PORT	The port number of the SMTP server.	No
ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_AUTH	Default: false Flag for Alert to use SMTP authentication when connecting to the SMTP server. Setting this true will make username and password required.	No
ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_USERNAME	The username for authenticating with the SMTP server.	No
ALERT_CHANNEL_EMAIL_MAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD	The password for authenticating with the SMTP server.	No

Jira Server

Environment Variable	Description	Required

Environment Variable	Description	Required
ALERT_CHANNEL_JIRA_SERVER_JIRA_SERVER_URL	The url of the Jira Server instance.	Yes
ALERT_CHANNEL_JIRA_SERVER_JIRA_SERVER_USERNAME	The username of the Jira Server user. Note: Unless 'Disable Plugin Check' is checked, the user must be a Jira admin.	No
ALERT_CHANNEL_JIRA_SERVER_JIRA_SERVER_PASSWORD	The password of the specified Jira Server user.	No
ALERT_CHANNEL_JIRA_SERVER_JIRA_SERVER_DISABLE_PLUGIN_CHECK	Default: false This will disable checking whether the 'Alert Issue Property Indexer' plugin is installed on the specified Jira instance. Please ensure that the plugin is manually installed before using Alert with Jira. If not, issues created by Alert will not be updated properly.	No

Settings Environment Variables

More detailed information regarding encryption and proxy can be found in: https://synopsys.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/INTDOCS/pages/520618019

Encryption

Environment Variable	Description	Required

Environment Variable	Description	Required
ALERT_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD	Used to encrypt the data. It can be any alphanumeric string of eight characters or greater.	No
ALERT_ENCRYPTION_GLOBAL_SALT	The salt appended to the sensitive information before it is encrypted.	No

Proxy

Environment Variable	Description	Required

Environment Variable	Description	Required
ALERT_COMPONENT_SETTINGS_SETTINGS_PROXY_HOST	The host name of the proxy server that will be used for all connections to external systems.	Yes
ALERT_COMPONENT_SETTINGS_SETTINGS_PROXY_PORT	The port number of the proxy server.	No
ALERT_COMPONENT_SETTINGS_SETTINGS_PROXY_USERNAME	The username for authenticating with the proxy server.	No
ALERT_COMPONENT_SETTINGS_SETTINGS_PROXY_PASSWORD	The password for authenticating with the proxy server.	No