Environment Variables to Deployment Config
Parse, validate, and convert .env files to Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD configuration formats.
Overview
Managing environment variables across local development, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines requires converting the same values between multiple formats. This workflow handles each conversion step.
Step-by-Step Implementation
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Quick Summary
Same env vars need three different formats: `.env` for local dev, JSON for Kubernetes/CI/CD, and inline YAML for Docker Compose. Parse the source `.env` once to validate, then convert deterministically, manual translation drops keys and quotes.
Key Takeaways
- Never commit `.env` files with secrets, use `.env.example` for documentation and a secret manager for real values.
- Values with spaces or special chars need quoting: `KEY="value with spaces"`. Inconsistent quoting is the top cause of parse errors.
- Kubernetes Secrets need Base64-encoded values; ConfigMaps don't, easy to confuse.
- Docker Compose's `env_file` directive is cleaner than `environment:` lists for many vars.
- Variable substitution (`${VAR}`) in `.env` files works in Compose but not in some CI/CD parsers, test the destination format.
When to use it
- Moving an app from local Docker to Kubernetes without losing config.
- Generating GitHub Actions `env:` blocks from a single source `.env` file.
- Auditing which env vars are actually used by an app vs declared but dead.
- Producing per-environment configs (`dev`, `staging`, `prod`) from a single template.
Common Mistakes
- Committing `.env` to Git, even private repos get cloned to laptops; secrets get leaked.
- Using `EXPORT VAR=value` syntax in `.env`, that's a bash file, not standard `.env` format.
- Storing multi-line values (private keys, certs) without proper escaping, most `.env` parsers don't handle them.
- Hardcoding sensitive values in `docker-compose.yml` instead of referencing `${VAR}` from the environment.
Environment Variables to Deployment Config, Frequently Asked
How should I handle secrets vs config?
Config (non-secret) → env vars or ConfigMap. Secrets (passwords, API keys) → secret manager (AWS Secrets Manager, Vault, Doppler) injected at runtime, never committed.
Why does my multi-line env var break things?
Most `.env` parsers don't support multi-line values. Wrap in double quotes with `\n` escapes, or Base64-encode the value and decode at runtime.
Are env vars secure?
More secure than config files in the repo, less secure than a secret manager. Anyone with access to the process (e.g., `ps eww`) can read them. Use a secret manager for high-sensitivity values.