DevOps Beginner

What is Environment Variable?

A dynamic value stored outside the application code that configures behavior without hardcoding sensitive or environment-specific data.

Environment variables store configuration that changes between environments (development, staging, production). Common examples include DATABASE_URL, API_KEY, and DEBUG_MODE.

They keep secrets out of source code, following the twelve-factor app methodology. Tools like .env files, Docker environment settings, and cloud provider secret managers handle environment variable management.

Related Terms

An open-source container orchestration platform that automates deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications.

Kubernetes Secret

A Kubernetes object for storing sensitive data like passwords, tokens, and certificates, with base64 encoding and optional encryption at rest.

A deployment strategy that gradually replaces old application instances with new ones, maintaining availability throughout.

A packaged, versioned output of a build process — such as a Docker image, JAR file, or compiled binary — ready for deployment.

A CI/CD platform integrated into GitHub that automates build, test, and deployment workflows using YAML configuration.

The practice of collecting, analyzing, and alerting on system metrics and logs to ensure application health and performance.

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