Why readings from .env file are wrong? - node.js

Question

I've a problem. I'm new to nodejs so probably it's really easy to fix it. In the main directory, I've a .env file. In the main.js file I've:
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
const http = require('http')
const {Pool, Client} = require('pg');
require("dotenv").config();
console.log(process.env.USER);
So, I simply want to print the USER variabile that is located into my .env file. Here is my .env file:
USER=postgres
HOST=localhost
DATABASE=postgres
PASSWORD=mysecretpassword
PORT=5432
Anyway, when I write console.log(process.env.USER);, the variable printed is not the USER variable (that is postgres), but my pc user account (that is John). How is that possible?

Answer 1

I don't have enough reputation to comment, but have you tried renaming your variables, adding a prefix like DB_, so the variables names become DB_USER, DB_HOST etc.?
Maybe this variable is already taken by the process. And I personally don't like to overwrite them.
You can check running node REPL in your terminal, then typing process.env.
These are the Node environment variables that are already taken on my PC (running on Windows):
{
ALLUSERSPROFILE: 'C:\\ProgramData',
APPDATA: 'C:\\Users\\dizolan\\AppData\\Roaming',
ChocolateyInstall: 'C:\\ProgramData\\chocolatey',
CommonProgramFiles: 'C:\\Program Files\\Common Files',
'CommonProgramFiles(x86)': 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Common Files',
CommonProgramW6432: 'C:\\Program Files\\Common Files',
COMPUTERNAME: '...',
ComSpec: 'C:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe',
DriverData: 'C:\\Windows\\System32\\Drivers\\DriverData',
FPS_BROWSER_APP_PROFILE_STRING: 'Internet Explorer',
FPS_BROWSER_USER_PROFILE_STRING: 'Default',
GOPATH: '...',
HOMEDRIVE: 'C:',
HOMEPATH: '...',
LOCALAPPDATA: '...',
LOGONSERVER: '...',
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS: '8',
OneDrive: '...',
OS: 'Windows_NT',
Path: '...',
PATHEXT: '.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC;.PY;.PYW',
POWERSHELL_DISTRIBUTION_CHANNEL: 'MSI:Windows 10 Pro for Workstations',
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE: 'AMD64',
PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER: 'Intel64 Family 6 Model 142 Stepping 12, GenuineIntel',
PROCESSOR_LEVEL: '6',
PROCESSOR_REVISION: '8e0c',
ProgramData: 'C:\\ProgramData',
ProgramFiles: 'C:\\Program Files',
'ProgramFiles(x86)': 'C:\\Program Files (x86)',
ProgramW6432: 'C:\\Program Files',
PSModulePath: 'C:\\Program Files\\WindowsPowerShell\\Modules;C:\\Windows\\system32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\Modules',
PUBLIC: 'C:\\Users\\Public',
SESSIONNAME: 'Console',
SystemDrive: 'C:',
SystemRoot: 'C:\\Windows',
TEMP: '...',
TMP: '...',
USERDNSDOMAIN: '...',
USERDOMAIN: '...',
USERDOMAIN_ROAMINGPROFILE: '...',
USERNAME: '...',
USERPROFILE: '...',
windir: 'C:\\Windows'
}

Answer 2

dotenv add override option at version 14.1.0 (2022-01-17) You can use override: true option to
Override any environment variables that have already been set on your machine with values from your .env file.
require('dotenv').config({ override: true, debug: true })
console.log(process.env.USER);
Output:
[dotenv][DEBUG] "USER" is already defined in `process.env` and WAS overwritten
postgres
USER is a system environment variable, see environ(7)
USER The name of the logged-in user (used by some BSD-derived
programs). Set at login time, see section NOTES below.