What is the `WEB_ATTACHMENT_COLLECTION` environment variable?

dfernandez · September 8, 2025, 2:08pm

I have a question regarding

WEB_ATTACHMENT_COLLECTION

What is it and what does it do? Do i need it for something? Not seeing mentioned (im Using docker all-in-one ). Not seeing any traces in repo:specify/docker-compositions about this.

Thank you

Grant · September 8, 2025, 6:35pm

Hi @dfernandez,

WEB_ATTACHMENT_COLLECTION is an optional environment variable that instructs Specify 7 to reference a specific directory on the asset server by name, rather than searching for a directory that matches the database name.

This was necessary only for the v7.11.0 release, but as of v7.11.1 (the latest release at time of writing), this is no longer required:

On Specify Cloud, we always override the collection using the WEB_ATTACHMENT_COLLECTION setting to use the desired asset server directory name. This allows a single asset server to support multiple Specify 7 instances. In most cases, it is not necessary for a locally managed environment with a single database.

github.com/specify/specify7

Dockerfile

b45cef28f


      
          "\nDATABASE_NAME = os.environ['DATABASE_NAME']" \
          "\nDATABASE_HOST = os.environ['DATABASE_HOST']" \
          "\nDATABASE_PORT = os.environ.get('DATABASE_PORT', '')" \
          "\nMASTER_NAME = os.environ['MASTER_NAME']" \
          "\nMASTER_PASSWORD = os.environ['MASTER_PASSWORD']" \
          "\nDEPOSITORY_DIR = '/volumes/static-files/depository'" \
          "\nREPORT_RUNNER_HOST = os.getenv('REPORT_RUNNER_HOST', '')" \
          "\nREPORT_RUNNER_PORT = os.getenv('REPORT_RUNNER_PORT', '')" \
          "\nWEB_ATTACHMENT_URL = os.getenv('ASSET_SERVER_URL', None)" \
          "\nWEB_ATTACHMENT_KEY = os.getenv('ASSET_SERVER_KEY', None)" \
          "\nWEB_ATTACHMENT_COLLECTION = os.getenv('ASSET_SERVER_COLLECTION', None)" \
          "\nSEPARATE_WEB_ATTACHMENT_FOLDERS = os.getenv('SEPARATE_WEB_ATTACHMENT_FOLDERS', None)" \
          "\nCELERY_BROKER_URL = os.getenv('CELERY_BROKER_URL', None)" \
          "\nCELERY_RESULT_BACKEND = os.getenv('CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND', None)" \
          "\nCELERY_TASK_DEFAULT_QUEUE = os.getenv('CELERY_TASK_QUEUE', DATABASE_NAME)" \
          "\nANONYMOUS_USER = os.getenv('ANONYMOUS_USER', None)" \
          "\nSPECIFY_CONFIG_DIR = os.environ.get('SPECIFY_CONFIG_DIR', '/opt/Specify/config')" \
          "\nTIME_ZONE = os.environ.get('TIME_ZONE', 'America/Chicago')" \
          # Resolve ALLOWED_HOSTS in the following precedence:
          # - Use the ALLOWED_HOSTS environment variable (if present)
          # - Otherwise, fallback to the default specified in settings/specify_settings.py

Grant · September 15, 2025, 6:35pm

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What is the `WEB_ATTACHMENT_COLLECTION` environment variable?

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