Environment Variables

This document describes all environment variables used by the CLI tools and the mini-eric-php SDK.

ceric CLI Environment Variables

The ceric CLI tool uses the following environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
APP_ENV	staging	Application environment (affects test flag behavior)
CERTIFICATE_PIN	123456	PIN for certificate access
DEVELOPER_ID	00000	Five digits developer ID provided by ELSTER
DEVELOPER_NAME	Test	Developer name to identify the developer of the software which communicates with ELSTER
PATH_CERTIFICATE	bin/eric/test-softorg-pse.pfx	Path to certificate file for send/transmit operations
PATH_VENDOR	bin/eric/plugins	Path to the ERiC vendor libraries directory

cotto CLI Environment Variables

The cotto CLI tool uses the following environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
DEVELOPER_ID	00000	Five digits developer ID provided by ELSTER
PATH_CERTIFICATE	bin/eric/test-softorg-pse.pfx	Path to certificate file for download operation
CERTIFICATE_PIN	123456	PIN for certificate access

Detailed Descriptions

APP_ENV

• Purpose: Application environment identifier

• Default: staging

• Usage: Affects behavior of test flags and processing logic

• Special Values:

  • production: Disables test flags

  • Other values: Uses test flags for communication with ELSTER servers

• Example: export APP_ENV="production"

CERTIFICATE_PIN

• Purpose: PIN for accessing the certificate file

• Default: 123456

• Usage: Used to unlock the certificate for authentication and signing processes

• Example: export CERTIFICATE_PIN="your_secure_pin"

DEVELOPER_ID

• Purpose: Developer identifier for ERiC processing

• Default: 00000

• Usage: Used in ERiC API calls to identify the developer

• Example: export DEVELOPER_ID="12345"

DEVELOPER_NAME

• Purpose: Developer name for ERiC processing

• Default: Test

• Usage: Used in ERiC API calls

• Example: export DEVELOPER_NAME="Your Company Name"

PATH_CERTIFICATE

• Purpose: Path to the certificate file used for send/transmit operations

• Default: bin/eric/test-softorg-pse.pfx

• Usage: Required for operations that need to authenticate with ERiC services

• Example: export PATH_CERTIFICATE="/path/to/your/certificate.pfx"

PATH_VENDOR

• Purpose: Specifies the location of ERiC vendor plugins

• Default: bin/eric/plugins

• Usage: The ceric binary looks for loadable ERiC shared libraries (e.g., *.{dll,dylib,so}) in this directory

• Example: export PATH_VENDOR="/path/to/eric/plugins"

mini-eric-php SDK Environment Variables

The mini-eric-php SDK automatically sets the following environment variable when executing ceric commands:

Variable	Description
PATH_VENDOR	Vendor path for ERiC plugins

SDK Behavior

The PHP SDK automatically configures the PATH_VENDOR environment variable when running ceric commands. This ensures that the ceric binary can find the required ERiC libraries.

The SDK constructs the path as: {vendor_path}/eric-plugins/

Setting Environment Variables

Linux/macOS

# Set individual variables
export PATH_CERTIFICATE="/path/to/your/certificate.pfx"
export CERTIFICATE_PIN="your_secure_pin"
export DEVELOPER_ID="12345"
export DEVELOPER_NAME="Your Company Name"
export APP_ENV="production"

# Or set multiple at once
export PATH_CERTIFICATE="/path/to/your/certificate.pfx" \
       CERTIFICATE_PIN="your_secure_pin" \
       DEVELOPER_ID="12345" \
       DEVELOPER_NAME="Your Company Name" \
       APP_ENV="production"

Windows

# Set individual variables
set PATH_CERTIFICATE=C:\path\to\your\certificate.pfx
set CERTIFICATE_PIN=your_secure_pin
set DEVELOPER_ID=12345
set DEVELOPER_NAME=Your Company Name
set APP_ENV=production

Docker

# In Dockerfile
ENV PATH_CERTIFICATE="/path/to/certificate.pfx"
ENV CERTIFICATE_PIN="your_secure_pin"
ENV DEVELOPER_ID="12345"
ENV DEVELOPER_NAME="Your Company Name"
ENV APP_ENV="production"

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Certificate not found

   • Verify the file exists and is readable

   • Check that PATH_CERTIFICATE points to a valid certificate file

2. Library not found

   • Ensure PATH_VENDOR points to the correct ERiC libraries directory

   • Check that required shared libraries are present

3. Authentication failures

   • Verify CERTIFICATE_PIN is correct

   • Ensure the certificate is valid and not expired

Verification Commands

# Check if environment variables are set
echo $PATH_VENDOR
echo $PATH_CERTIFICATE
echo $CERTIFICATE_PIN
echo $DEVELOPER_ID
echo $DEVELOPER_NAME
echo $APP_ENV

# Verify certificate file exists
ls -la $PATH_CERTIFICATE

# Test ceric with current environment
bin/ceric --help

Security Considerations

• Never commit certificate files or PINs to version control

• Use secure methods to store sensitive environment variables

• Consider using environment-specific configuration files

• Rotate certificates and PINs regularly

Examples

Staging Environment

export PATH_CERTIFICATE="bin/eric/test-softorg-pse.pfx"
export CERTIFICATE_PIN="123456"
export DEVELOPER_ID="00000"
export DEVELOPER_NAME="Test Developer"
export APP_ENV="staging"

Production Environment

export PATH_CERTIFICATE="/secure/certs/production.pfx"
export CERTIFICATE_PIN="$(cat /secure/pin.txt)"
export DEVELOPER_ID="12345"
export DEVELOPER_NAME="Company"
export APP_ENV="production"