Adding Environment Variables to Compose Environments

Environment variables are name/value pairs that are dynamically loaded into your containers at runtime. They are often used to pass configuration details to your application. Using environment variables instead of hard-coded values lets you keep environment-specific details out of your source code.

You will add secrets in one of two ways, depending on which CI solution you choose:

External CI

If you're using an external CI provider, such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or CircleCI, environment variables should be stored via your provider's interface and referenced in your Docker Compose template (opens in a new tab) using the environment element.

!!! note Docker Compose element env_file is not currently support for external CI providers.

Uffizzi CI

If you're using Uffizzi CI, you have two options for adding environment variables in your Uffizzi Compose file: environment or env_file.

• Use environment if you have a small number of environment variables to add. You can list your variables in an environment block within the service definition. For example, the following docker-compose.uffizzi.yml snippet adds two environment variables, FOO and BAR, to the myservice container:

services:
    mysevice:
      image: example/myservice:latest
      environment:
        FOO: bar
        BAR: baz

• Use env_file if you have a large number of enviroment variables that would otherwise clutter up your compose file. You can store your variables in a file within your repository and use the env_file component to specify the path to this file. For example, the following docker-compose.uffizzi.yml snippet tells Uffizzi to read the contents of envs/myconfigs.env and add them to the container myservice:

services:
    mysevice:
      image: example/myservice:latest
      env_file: ./envs/myconfigs.env