How do I set the MONGOHQ_URL environment variable in the run configuration of Netbeans?

Question

We're working on deploying a Java project to Heroku that uses MongoDB. According to the Heroku docs, the DB connection parameters are read from an environment variable, MONGOHQ_URL. When I run the project in Netbeans on my laptop, how do I set this variable?

I tried adding it as a VM option with -DMONGOHQ_URL=... in Run -> Set Project Configuration -> Customize -> Run and as well in Actions -> Run project and Run file via main(), but to no avail. When the program reads it with System.getvar it's not set.

You could switch from using env vars to using Java system properties and just pass the env vars into system properties when you run on Heroku. — James Ward, Apr 17 '12 at 18:04
That depends on how you are starting your app on Heroku. But it will likely be adding something like the following to your Procfile: `-Dmongourl=${MONGOHQ_URL}` — James Ward, Apr 18 '12 at 09:28
I'm just following the tutorial using MongoHQ. That wasn't the problem. The problem was to be able to continue running the app locally. — Wolfram Arnold, Apr 18 '12 at 16:44
What I meant is that you could use only a Java system property in your code and then set it from an env var on Heroku and from a launch config in NetBeans. — James Ward, Apr 18 '12 at 23:14
Got it. That's what I ended up doing in my solution below. Thanks again. — Wolfram Arnold, Apr 21 '12 at 14:29

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 17 '12 at 18:30

0

You can set it in your netbeans.conf file. Add the line:

export MONGOHQ_URL=...

There's an example here: http://sunng.info/blog/2009/12/setting-environment-variables-for-netbeans/.

answered Apr 17 '12 at 18:30

kris

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Thanks. There is no way to set this on a per-project basis? I don't want this to be a global setting for all NetBeans apps. – Wolfram Arnold Apr 17 '12 at 19:01

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 17 '12 at 19:11

Ok, I figured it out. This may be obvious to Java coders, but I'm not one, so here is what I cobbled together.

    String mongo_url = System.getenv("MONGOHQ_URL");
    // If env var not set, try reading from Java "system properties"
    if (mongo_url == null) {
        mongo_url = System.getProperty("MONGOHQ_URL");
    }

    MongoURI mongoURI = new MongoURI(mongo_url);
    this.db = mongoURI.connectDB();

    // Only authenticate if username or password provided
    if (!"".equals(mongoURI.getUsername()) || mongoURI.getPassword().length > 0) {
        Boolean success = this.db.authenticate(mongoURI.getUsername(), mongoURI.getPassword());  

        if (!success) {
            System.out.println("MongoDB Authentication failed");
            return;
        }
    }
    this.my_collection = db.getCollection("my_collection");

How do I set the MONGOHQ_URL environment variable in the run configuration of Netbeans?

2 Answers2