Environment variables support
Environment variables provide another way to specify configuration options and
credentials, and can be useful for scripting or temporarily setting a named profile as the
default. For the list of environment variables supported by most SDKs, see Environment variables list.
Precedence of options
-
If you specify a setting by using its environment variable, it overrides any value
loaded from a profile in the shared AWS config and credentials files.
-
If you specify a setting by using a parameter on the AWS CLI command line, it
overrides any value from either the corresponding environment variable or a profile
in the configuration file.
How to set environment variables
The following examples show how you can configure environment variables for the
default user.
- Linux, macOS, or Unix
-
$ export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
$ export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
$ export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN=AQoEXAMPLEH4aoAH0gNCAPy...truncated...zrkuWJOgQs8IZZaIv2BXIa2R4Olgk
$ export AWS_REGION=us-west-2
Setting the environment variable changes the value used until the end of
your shell session, or until you set the variable to a different value. You
can make the variables persistent across future sessions by setting them in
your shell's startup script.
- Windows Command Prompt
-
C:\> setx AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
C:\> setx AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
C:\> setx AWS_SESSION_TOKEN AQoEXAMPLEH4aoAH0gNCAPy...truncated...zrkuWJOgQs8IZZaIv2BXIa2R4Olgk
C:\> setx AWS_REGION us-west-2
Using set to set an environment variable changes the value
used until the end of the current Command Prompt session, or until you set
the variable to a different value. Using setx to set an environment variable changes
the value used in both the current Command Prompt session and all Command
Prompt sessions that you create after running the command. It does not affect
other command shells that are already running at the time you run the
command.
- PowerShell
-
PS C:\> $Env:AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
PS C:\> $Env:AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
PS C:\> $Env:AWS_SESSION_TOKEN="AQoEXAMPLEH4aoAH0gNCAPy...truncated...zrkuWJOgQs8IZZaIv2BXIa2R4Olgk"
PS C:\> $Env:AWS_REGION="us-west-2"
If you set an environment variable at the PowerShell prompt as shown in
the previous examples, it saves the value for only the duration of the
current session. To make the environment variable setting persistent across
all PowerShell and Command Prompt sessions, store it by using the
System application in Control
Panel. Alternatively, you can set the variable for all future
PowerShell sessions by adding it to your PowerShell profile. See the PowerShell documentation for more information about storing
environment variables or persisting them across sessions.
Serverless environment variable setup
If you use a serverless architecture for development, you have other options for
setting environment variables. Depending on your container, you can use different
strategies for code running in those containers to see and access environment variables,
similar to non-cloud environments.
For example, with AWS Lambda, you can directly set environment variables. For details,
see Using AWS Lambda environment
variables in the AWS Lambda Developer Guide.
In Serverless Framework, you can often set SDK environment variables in the
serverless.yml file under the provider key under the
environment setting. For information on the serverless.yml file,
see General function settings in the Serverless Framework documentation.
Regardless of which mechanism you use to set container environment variables, there
are some that are reserved by the container, such as those documented for Lambda at
Defined runtime environment variables. Always consult the official
documentation for the container that you’re using to determine how environment variables
are treated and whether there are any restrictions.
