diff --git a/server/src/db_io/.env b/server/src/db_io/.env
index 1d18fb7..1f99cb5 100644
--- a/server/src/db_io/.env
+++ b/server/src/db_io/.env
@@ -1 +1 @@
-DATABASE_URL=mysql://freechat_server:@localhost/freechat_dev
+export DATABASE_URL=mysql://freechat_server:@localhost/freechat_dev