Manage environment variables on Azure Container Apps

If you're creating a new Container App through the Azure portal, you can set up the environment variables on the Container section:

You can create your Container App with enviroment variables using the az containerapp create command by passing the environment variables as space-separated 'key=value' entries using the --env-vars parameter.

az containerapp create -n my-containerapp -g MyResourceGroup \
    --image my-app:v1.0 --environment MyContainerappEnv \
    --secrets mysecret=secretvalue1 anothersecret="secret value 2" \
    --env-vars GREETING="Hello, world" ANOTHERENV=anotherenv

If you want to reference a secret, you have to ensure that the secret you want to reference is already created, see Manage secrets. You can use the secret name and pass it to the value field but starting with secretref:

az containerapp update \
    -n <APP NAME> 
    -g <RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME> 
    --set-env-vars <VAR_NAME>=secretref:<SECRET_NAME>

If you want to use PowerShell you have to, first, create an in-memory object called EnvironmentVar using the New-AzContainerAppEnvironmentVarObject PowerShell cmdlet.

To use this cmdlet, you have to pass the name of the environment variable using the -Name parameter and the value using the -Value parameter, respectively.

$envVar = New-AzContainerAppEnvironmentVarObject -Name "envVarName" -Value "envVarvalue"

If you want to reference a secret, you have to ensure that the secret you want to reference is already created, see Manage secrets. You can use the secret name and pass it to the -SecretRef parameter:

$envVar = New-AzContainerAppEnvironmentVarObject -Name "envVarName" -SecretRef "secretName"

Then you have to create another in-memory object called Container using the New-AzContainerAppTemplateObject PowerShell cmdlet.

On this cmdlet, you have to pass the name of your container image (not the container app!) you desire using the -Name parameter, the fully qualified image name using the -Image parameter and reference the environment object you defined previously on the variable $envVar.

$containerTemplate = New-AzContainerAppTemplateObject -Name "container-app-name" -Image "repo/imagename:tag" -Env $envVar

Finally, you can update your Container App based on the new template object you created using the Update-AzContainerApp PowerShell cmdlet.

In this last cmdlet, you only need to pass the template object you defined on the $containerTemplate variable on the previous step using the -TemplateContainer parameter.

Update-AzContainerApp -TemplateContainer $containerTemplate

1. In the Azure portal, search for Container Apps and then select your app.

   

2. In the app's left menu, select Revisions and replicas > Create new revision

   

3. Then you have to edit the current existing container image:

   

4. In the Environment variables section, you can Add new Environment variables by clicking on Add.

5. Then set the Name of your Environment variable and the Source (it can be a reference to a secret).

   

   1. If you select the Source as manual, you can manually input the Environment variable value.

      

You can update your Container App with the az containerapp update command.

This example creates an environment variable with a manual value (not referencing a secret). Replace the <PLACEHOLDERS> with your values.

az containerapp update \
    -n <APP NAME> 
    -g <RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME> 
    --set-env-vars <VAR_NAME>=<VAR_VALUE>

If you want to create multiple environment variables, you can insert space-separated values in the 'key=value' format.

If you want to reference a secret, you have to ensure that the secret you want to reference is already created, see Manage secrets. You can use the secret name and pass it to the value field but starting with secretref:, see the following example:

az containerapp update \
    -n <APP NAME> 
    -g <RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME> 
    --set-env-vars <VAR_NAME>=secretref:<SECRET_NAME>

Similarly to what you need to do upon creating a new Container App you have to create an object called EnvironmentVar, which is contained within a Container. This Container is then used with the New-AzContainerApp PowerShell cmdlet.

In this cmdlet, you only need to pass the template object you defined previously as described in the Configure environment variables section.

Update-AzContainerApp -TemplateContainer $containerTemplate