Environment variables

ARender services are Spring Boot applications. Any Spring Boot property can be overridden via an environment variable using a per-service prefix.

How Spring Boot externalized configuration works

Spring Boot maps environment variables to property names using a relaxed binding algorithm. For ARender services, each service has a custom environment variable prefix that scopes its configuration. The prefix prevents collisions when multiple services share the same host or pod environment.

The resolution order from lowest to highest priority:

1. Defaults compiled into the application JAR
2. application.properties or application.yml files on the classpath
3. External config files (e.g. mounted application.yml)
4. Environment variables

Naming convention

Service prefixes

Each service uses a prefix. All environment variable names must be uppercase.

Service	Container image	Prefix
Document Service Broker	arender-document-service-broker	DSB_
Document Converter	arender-document-converter	DCV_
Document Renderer	arender-document-renderer-pdfowl	DRN_
Document Text Handler	arender-document-text-handler	DTH_

warning

Native Spring Boot properties (e.g., spring.security.oauth2.*) must not be prefixed with a service-specific prefix such as DSB_. Only ARender-specific properties (e.g., arender.server.*) use the service prefix. Prefixing native Spring Boot properties will prevent them from being picked up or applied correctly.

Note: The Modern viewer deployment has no viewer UI container (arender-ui-springboot). The ARENDERSRV_ prefix used in Classic deployments does not apply to the Modern stack. Provider services (e.g., alfresco-provider, filenet-provider) use their own environment variables without an ARender-specific prefix, as documented in the Provider services section below.

Property-to-variable mapping rules

1. Start from the Spring property path (dot-separated), for example: eureka.instance.metadataMap.hostName.
2. Split any camelCase segment by inserting a literal . before each internal capital letter (e.g., metadataMap → metadata.Map, hostName → host.Name).
3. Convert the whole name to UPPERCASE.
4. Replace the original dot separators between property levels with _ (underscore).
5. Use [n] to select a list element at index n.

Example: nested YAML property

eureka:
  instance:
    metadataMap:
      hostName: document-converter

Transformation steps:

• Split camelCase: eureka_instance_metadataMap_hostName
• Level separator → underscore: eureka_instance_metadata.Map_host.Name
• Uppercase : EUREKA_INSTANCE_METADATA.MAP_HOST.NAME
• Add service prefix: DCV_EUREKA_INSTANCE_METADATA.MAP_HOST.NAME=document-converter

Note: The .MAP and .NAME fragments come from splitting camelCase boundaries (for example metadataMap and hostName) and should be handled the same way for any camelCase segment.

Example: simple property override

The broker property arender.server.document.pdf.portfolio.enabled becomes:

DSB_ARENDER_SERVER_DOCUMENT_PDF_PORTFOLIO_ENABLED=true

note

When in doubt about a specific property, check the broker Swagger UI at http://{broker-host}:8761/swagger-ui/index.html or refer to the Rendition properties for exact property names.

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Docker Compose

In a Docker Compose file, set environment variables under the environment key for each service.

Minimal working configuration

docker-compose.yml

services:
  service-broker:
    image: artifactory.arondor.cloud:5001/arender-document-service-broker
    environment:
      - "DSB_KUBEPROVIDER_KUBE.HOSTS_DOCUMENT-CONVERTER=19999"
      - "DSB_KUBEPROVIDER_KUBE.HOSTS_DOCUMENT-RENDERER=9091"
      - "DSB_KUBEPROVIDER_KUBE.HOSTS_DOCUMENT-TEXT-HANDLER=8899"

  document-converter:
    image: artifactory.arondor.cloud:5001/arender-document-converter
    environment:
      - "DCV_EUREKA_INSTANCE_METADATA.MAP_HOST.NAME=document-converter"
      - "DCV_APP_EUREKA_HOSTNAME=service-broker"
      - "DCV_APP_EUREKA_PORT=8761"

  document-renderer:
    image: artifactory.arondor.cloud:5001/arender-document-renderer-pdfowl
    environment:
      - "DRN_EUREKA_INSTANCE_METADATA.MAP_HOST.NAME=document-renderer"
      - "DRN_EUREKA_INSTANCE_HOSTNAME=service-broker"
      - "DRN_EUREKA_SERVER_PORT=8761"

  document-text-handler:
    image: artifactory.arondor.cloud:5001/arender-document-text-handler
    environment:
      - "DTH_EUREKA_INSTANCE_METADATA.MAP_HOST.NAME=document-text-handler"
      - "DTH_EUREKA_INSTANCE_HOSTNAME=service-broker"
      - "DTH_EUREKA_SERVER_PORT=8761"

Common overrides

Change the broker port:

service-broker:
  environment:
    - "DSB_SERVER_PORT=9000"

Enable PDF Portfolio detection:

service-broker:
  environment:
    - "DSB_ARENDER_SERVER_DOCUMENT_PDF_PORTFOLIO_ENABLED=true"

Increase conversion memory limit on the broker:

service-broker:
  environment:
    - "DSB_ARENDER_CONVERSION_MEMORY=2048m"
    - "DSB_ARENDER_JNIRENDERER_MEMORY=2048m"
    - "DSB_ARENDER_PDFBOX_MEMORY=2048m"

Override the LibreOffice conversion timeout:

document-converter:
  environment:
    - "DCV_SOFFICE_CONVERSION_TIMEOUT=300"

Activate DirectOffice for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint:

document-converter:
  environment:
    - "DCV_MIMETYPE_SUPPORT_DIRECTOFFICE=<word,excel,powerpoint MIME types>"
    - "DCV_MIMETYPE_SUPPORT_LIBREOFFICE=<remaining formats: RTF, ODF, Visio, Project>"

See the Office conversion guide for the full list of MIME types.

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Kubernetes (Helm)

The ARender Helm charts support environment variable injection at two levels: a shared ConfigMap and per-service values.yaml overrides.

Helm chart structure

Chart	Path	Purpose
rendition	helm/rendition/	Deploys broker, converter, renderer, and text handler

Passing environment variables via values.yaml

Each service in the rendition chart accepts an environment map under its key:

values.yaml

# helm/rendition/values.yaml (excerpt)
broker:
  environment:
    PROVIDER_ENVIRONMENT: LOCAL

converter:
  environment:
    DCV_SOFFICE_CONVERSION_TIMEOUT: "300"

renderer:
  environment: {}

handler:
  environment: {}

Broker service discovery in Kubernetes

The broker discovers rendition services using DNS names resolved from Kubernetes service names. The ConfigMap template (configmap-broker.yaml) generates the following structure automatically based on chart values:

configmap-broker.yaml

kubeprovider:
  kubeHosts:
    {release-name}-converter.{namespace}.svc.cluster.local: 19999
    {release-name}-renderer.{namespace}.svc.cluster.local: 9091
    {release-name}-handler.{namespace}.svc.cluster.local: 8899

The broker PROVIDER_ENVIRONMENT variable controls how service addresses are resolved:

Value	Behavior
LOCAL	Resolve services by hostname from the kubeHosts map
KUBERNETES	Use Kubernetes API to discover services (requires RBAC)

Injecting secrets

Use envFrom to mount a Kubernetes Secret as environment variables:

values.yaml

broker:
  envFrom:
    - secretRef:
        name: arender-broker-secrets

The Secret would contain values such as:

arender-broker-secrets.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: arender-broker-secrets
stringData:
  DSB_ARENDER_URL_BASIC_AUTH: "domain1@secret1,domain2@secret2"

Injecting a custom application.yml

The config.file.extraConfig field in each service's values appends raw YAML to the generated application.yml ConfigMap:

values.yaml

broker:
  config:
    file:
      extraConfig: |
        arender:
          server:
            annotations:
              can:
                create: false

This is useful for multi-line or complex properties that are awkward to express as a single environment variable.

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Provider services

In the Modern viewer architecture, providers run as separate Docker containers alongside the rendition backend. Providers are standard Spring Boot applications. Their properties are set directly as environment variables without an ARender-specific prefix.

Alfresco provider

Environment variable	Property	Default	Description
SERVER_PORT	server.port	8788	HTTP port
ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ATOM_PUB_URL	arender.server.alfresco.atom.pub.url	http://localhost:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/cmis/versions/1.1/atom	CMIS 1.1 AtomPub endpoint URL

FileNet provider

Environment variable	Property	Default	Description
SERVER_PORT	server.port	8787	HTTP port
ARENDER_SERVER_FILENET_AUTHENTICATION_METHOD	arender.server.filenet.authentication.method	oauth2ObjectStoreProvider	Authentication mode: loginPasswordObjectStoreProvider, oauth2ObjectStoreProvider, or jaasObjectStoreProvider
ARENDER_SERVER_FILENET_CE_URL	arender.server.filenet.ce.url	http://localhost:9080/wsi/FNCEWS40MTOM/	Content Engine WSI/MTOM endpoint URL
ARENDER_SERVER_FILENET_CE_LOGIN	arender.server.filenet.ce.login	p8admin	Service account login (login/password mode)
ARENDER_SERVER_FILENET_CE_PASSWORD	arender.server.filenet.ce.password	filenet	Service account password (login/password mode)
ARENDER_SERVER_FILENET_SECURITY_OAUTH2_PREFIX	arender.server.filenet.security.oauth2.prefix	(empty)	Token prefix for OAuth2 mode
SPRING_SECURITY_OAUTH2_RESOURCESERVER_JWT_ISSUER_URI	spring.security.oauth2.resourceserver.jwt.issuer-uri	—	JWT issuer URI (OAuth2 mode only)

Broker provider registry

The broker uses its own environment variables to register providers:

Environment variable	Description
REGISTRY_DEFAULT_PROVIDER	Default provider name when no X-Provider-ID header is present
REGISTRY_PROVIDERS_<NAME>_BASE_URL	Base URL of the named provider
REGISTRY_PROVIDERS_<NAME>_WHITELISTED_PARAMS	Comma-separated parameter names forwarded to the provider

Example:

REGISTRY_DEFAULT_PROVIDER=filenet
REGISTRY_PROVIDERS_FILENET_BASE_URL=http://filenet-provider:8787
REGISTRY_PROVIDERS_FILENET_WHITELISTED_PARAMS=objectStoreName,objectStoreId,objectType,id,vsId,contentElement
REGISTRY_PROVIDERS_ALFRESCO_BASE_URL=http://alfresco-provider:8788
REGISTRY_PROVIDERS_ALFRESCO_WHITELISTED_PARAMS=nodeRef,alf_ticket,user,versionLabel,docs,folder

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Summary table

Deployment	Method	Example
Docker Compose	environment: list in service block	- "DCV_SOFFICE_CONVERSION_TIMEOUT=300"
Kubernetes (Helm)	environment: map under service key	DCV_SOFFICE_CONVERSION_TIMEOUT: "300"
Kubernetes (Helm)	envFrom: with Secret	Mount arender-broker-secrets
Kubernetes (Helm)	config.file.extraConfig	Inject raw YAML into application.yml
Spring Boot (JAR)	OS environment or -D JVM flags	DSB_SERVER_PORT=9000

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Related pages

• Rendition properties
• Docker Compose