Bash - pass environment variables to Node.js process (during command running)

In this article, we would like to show you how to pass environment variables to Node.js process using Bash.

Quick solution (run in Bash):

VARIABLE_NAME=VARIABLE_VALUE node script.js

Where:

• VARIABLE_NAME is environment variable name that we want to pass,
• VARIABLE_VALUE is environment variable value that we want to pass,
• script.js is file name that will be executed receiving the environment variable.

Hint: we can use spaces and special characters in variable value by using VARIABLE_NAME="VARIABLE NAME" node script.js construction.

Practical example

In this example, we pass ADMIN_USERNAME and ADMIN_PASSWORD environment variables into script.js script. Then we access passed variables inside script.js script using process.env property.

script.js file:

console.log('Admin username: ' + process.env.ADMIN_USERNAME);
console.log('Admin password: ' + process.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD);

Bash command:

ADMIN_USERNAME=admin ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin node script.js

Script output:

Admin username: admin
Admin password: admin

See also

1. Node.js - common way to pass environment variables to Node.js process (during command running)

2. cmd.exe - pass environment variables to Node.js process (during command running)

References

1. Process | Node.js v19.1.0 Documentation