Manual Install

I prefer not to use the .env file. Without the leading period the env file settings are inactive. 

Also as a temporary override I use the following:
File: index.php

I’m curious why you think this is better than using the .env file.
The .env file is there exactly for that. Why complicate things?

The other ways to change the environnement variable are describe here: https://codeigniter4.github.io/userguide...ments.html