diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 6a8b103..3460d88 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@
       "version": "16.4.5",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/dotenv/-/dotenv-16.4.5.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha512-ZmdL2rui+eB2YwhsWzjInR8LldtZHGDoQ1ugH85ppHKwpUHL7j7rN0Ti9NCnGiQbhaZ11FpR+7ao1dNsmduNUg==",
+      "license": "BSD-2-Clause",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=12"
       },
diff --git a/process.env b/process.env
index 57eaaf2..840a0a6 100644
--- a/process.env
+++ b/process.env
@@ -1 +1,8 @@
-APP_PORT = 3000
\ No newline at end of file
+# configuration for web app
+APP_PORT=3000
+
+# configuration for db access
+DB_HOST=172.0.0.1:3306
+DB_USER=root
+DB_PASSWORD=
+DB_DATABASE=
diff --git a/scripts/modules/db-connect.js b/scripts/modules/db-connect.js
index e860644..00b0540 100644
--- a/scripts/modules/db-connect.js
+++ b/scripts/modules/db-connect.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 const mysql = require('mysql2');
-require('dotenv').config();
+require('dotenv').config({path:'process.env'});
 
 const connection = mysql.createConnection({
     host     : process.env.DB_HOST,
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index b744806..8f83748 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ const session = require('express-session');
 const router = require('express').Router();
 const path = require('path');
 
-require('dotenv').config();
+require('dotenv').config({path:'process.env'});
 
 const app = express();