cmd.exe - 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 Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe).

Quick solution (run in cmd.exe):

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set 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.

Warning: each character placed before && will be treat as variable value, so avoid unnecessary spaces.

Note: to escape & and ^ characters in variable value use ^ character, e.g.:

Copy

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set NAMES=Tom^&Jerry&&node script.js

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:

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

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

cmd.exe command:

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set ADMIN_USERNAME=admin&&set ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin&&node script.js

Script output:

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Admin username: admin

Admin password: admin

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

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

1. Process | Node.js v19.1.0 Documentation