In most cases, you don't want to add the.env file to source control (i.e. So, you should add it to your.gitignore file to make sure it's excluded from any future commits. To achieve this, create a.env file in the root of your Node.js project directory. Note: similar to Default Environment Variables,.env.test file should be included in your repository, but.env.test.local shouldn't, as.env.local are intended to be ignored through.gitignore. While running unit tests you can make sure to load your environment variables the same way Next.js does by leveraging the loadEnvConfig function from. The Action looks for environment variables that start with envkey and creates an envfile with them. These are defined in the with section of the Action config. Here is an example of it in use. Create a new environment ENVNAME with Python version 3.X: conda create -name ENVNAME python=3.X: Create a new environment ENVNAME with some initial packages: conda create -name ENVNAME python=3.X pandas ipykernel: Create a new environment from a yaml file: conda env create -file environment.yaml: Activate the environment ENVNAME (OSX.
GitHub Action
Create .env file
Github Action to create a .env file with Github Secrets
Installation
Copy and paste the following snippet into your .yml file.
Learn more about this action in SpicyPizza/create-envfileSpicyPizza/create-envfile@v1.1
About
A Github Action to create a .env file with Github Secrets. This is useful whenyou are creating artifacts that need to contain secrets stored in GithubSecrets. This creates a file with variables that are defined in the Actionconfig.
Usage
The Action looks for environment variables that start with envkey_ and createsan envfile with them. These are defined in the with section of the Actionconfig. Here is an example of it in use:
Inputs
In the example above, there are several key/value pairs that will be added tothe envfile:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
envkey_DEBUG, envkey_SOME_API_KEY | These values can be whatever, and they will be added to the envfile as DEBUG and SOME_API_KEY . |
envkey_SECRET_KEY | This one will use a secret stored in the repository's Github Secrets, and add it to the file as SECRET_KEY |
directory (Optional) | This key will set the directory in which you want to create env file. (Action will fail if the specified directory doesn't exist.) |
file_name (Optional) | Set the name of the output envfile. Defaults to .env |
Assuming that the Github Secret that was used is password123, the .env filethat is created from the config above would contain:
Potential Issues
Warnings
When the Action runs, it will show Warning: Unexpected input(s) .... This isbecause Github is expecing all the potential input variables to be defined bythe Action's definition. You can read more about it in thisissue.
Contributors
Categories
Links
SpicyPizza/create-envfile Open issues 1 Pull requests 1 Report abuseCreate .env file is not certified by GitHub. It is provided by a third-party and is governed by separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support documentation.
Summary:Environment variables are very useful to store sensitive information in Node.js. Here is the tutorial to use environment variables in a secure way.
Environment variables are global variables which are available to use under env object of global process object in Node.js.
The operating system has also a set of environment variables which provides useful information globally.
printenv command shows all Unix OS environment variables.
Many hosting providers have built-in support to set environment variable right from the dashboard. This provides easier application management because we can update any Ports or expired API keys directly without touching the code.
What are Environment variables in Node.js?
Environment variables are pieces of information which are loaded into the process object for further use.
We can directly console.log(process.env) in Node.js REPL or in Node.js file to see all environment variables.
Whenever the Node.js process starts it automatically add environment variables in env object of global process object.
The environment variables are generally stored into .env file in the form of name='value' form.
When the application is initialized, these variables are loaded into process.env for global use into the application. We can access these variables from any application files.
Why use env file or environment variables with Node.js?
Env files store the environment variables. It is NEVER recommended to hard code sensitive information like API keys.
Suppose you created a TODO application which stores data in MongoDB and hardcoded the connection string (they are secure as passwords). Now you publicly shared the code on GitHub. Anyone who views your code can get the database connection string and abuse the resources.
Environment variables come to rescue in this case. We create a .env file and store the connection string in variables and exclude them from public sharing.
Environment variables in .env file is a bit more secure (controversial topic) then hard coding. They are destroyed when the application terminates.
They also provide a single source to store sensitive information which we can use globally in our application.
Some peoples prefer to use a config file for this purpose but we need to manually import them in files to use them. It also removes the advantages to manage environment variables from the dashboard.
Node.js Environment Variables Configuration
From command line
Prefix the Node.js start command with environment variables in the format name='value' to set environment variables during application start.
For example.
It will store a key PORT value 3000 pair into the env object of global process object in Node.js. To verify this we can console log the PORT variable form app.js file.
The problem with this approach is that we need to manually pass all variables everytime when starting the application. If we forget to pass a specific variable then it will make our application inconsistent.
Using .env file
This is the most common and recommended way of using environment variables in Node.js.
The process is very simple. We need to install dotenv from npm and use it in app.js index file.
In app.js or index.js file.
Now we can create .env file in the main directory of the application where package.json and node_modules resides.
The format of environment variables in .env files are name=value per line.
Note that files starting with . are hidden in UNIX based operation systems. You need to enable 'show hidden files' to view .env files.
Directly (Not Recommended)
It is also possible to set environment variables at runtime, but I don't know why you will do that.
It is never recommended to set environment variables in this way.
Summary
This was the whole thing about environment variables in Node.js. To summarize we can say that environment variables are a better way to store sensitive information in one place.
We can easily exclude them while sharing the application and tell users to create their own .env files with their own specific data like API keys.
Several web hosts provide a way to set environment variables directly from the dashboard.
Here are some common items which we generally store in .env files.
How To Create An Env File
- API keys
- PORT information to run the application
- Database connection strings
- Important usernames and passwords