Day 57 · Kubernetes

Print Environment Variables in Kubernetes

By Varun DeshpandePublished 2026-07-18Kubernetes~1h to complete

Technical Overview

Modern applications should adhere to the Twelve-Factor App methodology, which dictates that configuration should be completely decoupled from application code and stored in the environment. Decoupling configuration allows the same application container image to be deployed across multiple environments (Development, Staging, Production) without modification.

In containerized environments, this is primarily achieved using Environment Variables. Kubernetes provides robust mechanisms to inject key-value pairs directly into running container processes.

Environment Variable Interpolation in K8s

When running a command inside a container, you may need to utilize the value of an injected environment variable. Kubernetes supports variable interpolation directly inside the container command and args lists using the $(VAR_NAME) syntax.

If the environment variable is declared inside the env list, Kubernetes will automatically expand it before launching the container process. Note that if you use the traditional Unix shell syntax $VAR_NAME without parentheses, it will rely on the container's shell process to evaluate the variable rather than the Kubernetes API controller.

Kubernetes Environment Variables Deep Dive

Kubernetes allows variables to be injected into a Pod using multiple source types:

1. Static Key-Values

Defined directly in the Pod specification using the value field. Suitable for static settings that do not change between environments or contain sensitive data.

env:
- name: ENVIRONMENT
  value: "production"

2. ConfigMaps (configMapKeyRef)

ConfigMaps store configurations centrally. You can inject a specific key-value pair from a ConfigMap as an environment variable, allowing dynamic configuration updates.

env:
- name: DATABASE_HOST
  valueFrom:
    configMapKeyRef:
      name: app-config
      key: db_host

3. Secrets (secretKeyRef)

Secrets hold sensitive information like passwords, tokens, or private keys. The values are stored as base64-encoded strings and are mounted securely in memory (tmpfs) within the container context.

env:
- name: DATABASE_PASSWORD
  valueFrom:
    secretKeyRef:
      name: database-credentials
      key: password

4. Downward API (fieldRef)

The Downward API allows container processes to obtain information about the Pod or Node they are running on, such as the Pod name, Pod IP, namespace, resource limits, or Node name, without querying the Kubernetes API server.

env:
- name: MY_POD_NAME
  valueFrom:
    fieldRef:
      fieldPath: metadata.name
- name: MY_POD_IP
  valueFrom:
    fieldRef:
      fieldPath: status.podIP

Infrastructure & Configuration Requirements

• Target Cluster: Nautilus Kubernetes Cluster
• Jump Host User: thor
• Namespace: default
• Pod Name: print-envars-greeting
• Container Name: print-env-container
• Image: bash
• Environment Variables:
  • GREETING: Welcome to
  • COMPANY: Nautilus
  • GROUP: Datacenter
• Command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", 'echo "$(GREETING) $(COMPANY) $(GROUP)"']
• Restart Policy: Never

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Connect to the Kubernetes Jump Host

SSH from your workstation into the cluster command host:

ssh thor@jump_host_ip

Step 2: Create the Pod Manifest File

Create a manifest file named print-env.yaml to define the Pod, the static environment variables, the command to output them, and configure the pod to run exactly once (restartPolicy: Never):

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: print-envars-greeting
  labels:
    app: print-env
spec:
  restartPolicy: Never
  containers:
  - name: print-env-container
    image: bash
    command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", 'echo "$(GREETING) $(COMPANY) $(GROUP)"']
    env:
    - name: GREETING
      value: "Welcome to"
    - name: COMPANY
      value: "Nautilus"
    - name: GROUP
      value: "Datacenter"

Step 3: Deploy the Pod

Create the Pod inside the default namespace:

kubectl apply -f print-env.yaml

Expected Output:

pod/print-envars-greeting created

Step 4: Monitor Pod Execution

Since restartPolicy: Never is specified, the Pod will run its print command and then transition into a terminal state.

Track the status in real time:

kubectl get pod print-envars-greeting -w

Expected Output Transition:

NAME                     READY   STATUS              RESTARTS   AGE
print-envars-greeting   0/1     ContainerCreating   0          2s
print-envars-greeting   0/1     Running             0          4s
print-envars-greeting   0/1     Completed           0          5s

Post-Deployment Verification

1. Confirm Completed Status

Ensure the Pod has successfully finished execution:

kubectl get pod print-envars-greeting

Expected Output:

NAME                     READY   STATUS      RESTARTS   AGE
print-envars-greeting   0/1     Completed   0          30s

2. Verify Output Logs

Check the stdout logs of the container to confirm the environment variables were correctly read, concatenated, and printed:

kubectl logs print-envars-greeting

Expected Output:

Welcome to Nautilus Datacenter

This confirms the environment variables were injected correctly and expanded dynamically by Kubernetes!