Configuration

After Docker is running, configure your environment variables, set up HTTPS, and complete the initial application setup.

Environment variables

Your configuration lives in docker-data/config/.env. Open it in any text editor:

nano docker-data/config/.env

Required variables

At a minimum, review and update these values:

# ─── Application ─────────────────────────────────────────────
APP_URL=https://propops.yourcompany.com  # Your public URL — no trailing slash
APP_ENV=production                       # production | development
APP_DEBUG=false                          # Always false in production

# ─── Database ────────────────────────────────────────────────
# These must match the values in docker-compose.yml
DB_HOST=db
DB_NAME=propops
DB_USER=propops_user
DB_PASS=propops_password

# ─── Licence ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
LICENSE_KEY=your_license_key_here        # Issued by PropOps Technologies Ltd

# ─── Mail (SMTP) ─────────────────────────────────────────────
MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailgun.org
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=postmaster@mg.yourcompany.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=your_smtp_password
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=noreply@yourcompany.com
MAIL_FROM_NAME="PropOps"
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls

Optional variables

These enable additional features. Refer to the .env.example file for the full list of available variables:

# ─── Push Notifications ──────────────────────────────────────
WEB_PUSH_ENABLED=true
VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=                        # Generate with web-push tools
VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY=
VAPID_SUBJECT=mailto:admin@yourcompany.com

# ─── WhatsApp Messaging ──────────────────────────────────────
# No external API credentials required — templates are managed in Admin

After changing .env, restart the web container for changes to take effect:

docker compose restart web

Auto-generated keys

The following keys are generated automatically on first boot. Do not change them after data has been written:

Variable	Purpose	Generated
`PII_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	Encrypts personally identifiable information (database fields) and job files (documents, photos, videos, GDPR reports) at rest	First boot
`PII_HMAC_KEY`	Creates searchable hashes of encrypted fields (enables lookups without decrypting data)	First boot

HTTPS with a reverse proxy

PropOps must be served over HTTPS in production. The recommended approach is Nginx with Certbot (Let’s Encrypt) running directly on the host, proxying requests to the Docker container.

Install Nginx and Certbot

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Create the Nginx site configuration

server {
    server_name propops.yourcompany.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass         http://127.0.0.1:8080;
        proxy_set_header   Host              $host;
        proxy_set_header   X-Real-IP         $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header   X-Forwarded-For   $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header   X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_read_timeout 120s;
        client_max_body_size 50M;
    }
}

Save to /etc/nginx/sites-available/propops and enable it:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/propops /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Issue an SSL certificate

sudo certbot --nginx -d propops.yourcompany.com

Certbot automatically configures HTTPS, redirects HTTP traffic, and sets up auto-renewal every 90 days.

Firewall

At a minimum, expose only the ports your reverse proxy needs:

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'   # Ports 80 and 443
sudo ufw enable

Do not expose port 3306 (MariaDB) or 8081 (phpMyAdmin) to the internet. Access phpMyAdmin through an SSH tunnel if needed:

ssh -L 8081:localhost:8081 user@your-server-ip
# Then open http://localhost:8081 in your browser

First-time setup

Once PropOps Web is running and you have logged in with the default admin credentials:

Change the default password

Go to your profile and set a strong, unique password immediately.

Configure your organisation

Go to Admin → Settings → General to set your organisation name, logo, and default VAT rate.

Create your first branch

Go to Admin → Branches and create a branch. Every job in PropOps Web is assigned to a branch.

Invite users

Go to Admin → Users to create staff accounts and configure their roles and permissions.

Verify email delivery

Go to Admin → Settings → Email and send a test email to confirm your SMTP configuration is working.

PropOps includes a built-in maintenance mode you can enable from Admin → Settings → Maintenance Mode or via the API (POST /api/system/maintenance-mode). Staff still have access while all other users see a maintenance screen.

Get Started

Installation

Core Features

Communication

Dashboard & Analytics

Platform

Security & Compliance

Configuration

Environment variables

Required variables

Optional variables

Auto-generated keys

HTTPS with a reverse proxy

Install Nginx and Certbot

Create the Nginx site configuration

Issue an SSL certificate

Firewall

First-time setup

​Environment variables

​Required variables

​Optional variables

​Auto-generated keys

​HTTPS with a reverse proxy

​Install Nginx and Certbot

​Create the Nginx site configuration

​Issue an SSL certificate

​Firewall

​First-time setup

Environment variables

Required variables

Optional variables

Auto-generated keys

HTTPS with a reverse proxy

Install Nginx and Certbot

Create the Nginx site configuration

Issue an SSL certificate

Firewall

First-time setup