Environment Setup and Database Requirements

Database requirements

Deployment Helper requires a working MySQL/MariaDB database that is:

• Accessible at the DATABASE_URL before the helper runs
• Writable with permissions to create tables and insert data
• Compatible with the Shopware version being deployed

Deployment Helper does not require an existing schema; if the database is empty, it creates everything via system:install.

Detection: Shopware is considered "installed" if all three exist:

• system_config table (with content)
• At least one row in user table
• At least one row in sales_channel table

If the database has the schema but no users or sales channels, DH treats it as not installed and runs system:install again.

What gets created on fresh install

When Deployment Helper runs system:install on a fresh database, it creates:

• Database schema (all Shopware tables)
• One admin user with credentials from environment variables:
  • Username: INSTALL_ADMIN_USERNAME (default: admin)
  • Password: INSTALL_ADMIN_PASSWORD (default: shopware; change this!)
  • Email: INSTALL_ADMIN_EMAIL (optional, defaults to empty)
• One Storefront sales channel (customer-facing shop):
  • Name: Storefront
  • URL: SALES_CHANNEL_URL or APP_URL (defaults to http://localhost)
• Default theme assignment (Shopware's Storefront theme)
• Messenger transport tables and queues
• All configured plugins and apps (unless excluded)

Note: You need to create additional admin users, sales channels, or custom configurations manually after installation (via Admin UI or bin/console commands). Deployment Helper sets up only the minimal required structure.

Environment variables

Configure the Shopware installation and Deployment Helper via environment variables. On Shopware PaaS, use the Vault for sensitive values (email, password, tokens).

Installation and initial setup

These variables apply only on fresh installation (system:install):

Variable	Default	Purpose
INSTALL_LOCALE	en-GB	Locale for the shop (e.g., de-DE, fr-FR)
INSTALL_CURRENCY	EUR	Currency for the first sales channel
INSTALL_ADMIN_USERNAME	admin	Username of the initial admin user
INSTALL_ADMIN_PASSWORD	shopware	Password for the initial admin user
INSTALL_ADMIN_EMAIL	(empty)	Email address of the admin user
SALES_CHANNEL_URL	http://localhost	URL of the Storefront sales channel
APP_URL	(not set)	Fallback URL for Storefront if SALES_CHANNEL_URL is not set

WARNING

Change INSTALL_ADMIN_PASSWORD from the default immediately. The default is a security risk in production.

Database connection

Variable	Required	Purpose
DATABASE_URL	Yes	Database connection string (e.g., mysql://user:pass@host:3306/shop)
DATABASE_SSL_CA	No	Path to TLS CA certificate for DB connection
DATABASE_SSL_CERT	No	Path to TLS client certificate
DATABASE_SSL_KEY	No	Path to TLS client key
DATABASE_SSL_DONT_VERIFY_SERVER_CERT	No	Set to any value to skip server-certificate verification (dev/test only)

See SSL/TLS Setup for certificate details.

Deployment control

Variable	Values	Purpose
SHOPWARE_DEPLOYMENT_TIMEOUT	Seconds (default: 300)	Max time a single deployment step can run; set to null to disable
SHOPWARE_DEPLOYMENT_FORCE_REINSTALL	1 or unset	Set to 1 to force fresh install with --drop-database (destroys existing data!)
SHOPWARE_DEPLOYMENT_STAGING	1 or unset	Set to 1 to enable staging mode on every deployment
SHOPWARE_PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE	File path	Custom project configuration path (absolute or relative to project root)

Store authentication

Required if installing apps. Optional if you only use plugins (custom code in custom/plugins).

Variable	Alternative	Purpose
SHOPWARE_STORE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL	SHOPWARE_STORE_SHOP_SECRET	Email for Shopware Account (use one or the other)
SHOPWARE_STORE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD	SHOPWARE_STORE_SHOP_SECRET	Password for Shopware Account (use one or the other)
SHOPWARE_STORE_SHOP_SECRET	EMAIL+PASSWORD	Pre-configured shop secret (PaaS Native only; alternative to email/password)
SHOPWARE_STORE_LICENSE_DOMAIN	YAML config	The license domain (overrides deployment.store.license-domain in YAML)

Choose one auth method:

• Email + Password: SHOPWARE_STORE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL + SHOPWARE_STORE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD
• Shop Secret: SHOPWARE_STORE_SHOP_SECRET (PaaS Native only)

Usage and compliance

Variable	Values	Purpose
SHOPWARE_USAGE_DATA_CONSENT	accepted or revoked	Enable/disable Shopware Usage Data collection (overrides Admin setting). Note: Shopware cannot collect data from its own hosted environments for legal reasons.
DO_NOT_TRACK	Any value	Opt out of Deployment Helper telemetry

Fastly integration

Variable	Purpose
FASTLY_API_TOKEN	API token for Fastly (required to deploy VCL snippets)
FASTLY_SERVICE_ID	Fastly Service ID (required to deploy VCL snippets)
FASTLY_DISABLE_SNIPPET_UPDATE	Set to 1 to disable automatic VCL snippet updates during run