Environment variables

Environment variables are pairs of key-and-value that can be used in the pipelines instead of manually updating the same values. They allow developers to save time looking up and entering access details, and eliminate the risk of providing sensitive details in their scripts.

ENV VARs are used to parameterize build scripts. Setting up variables in a pipeline will cause the same build action to work differently depending on the pipeline.

Setting environment variables

When adding a new variable, the following fields are available:

• Scope – defines the level of the variable
• Encryption – enabling encryption will hide the value of the variable in the logs
• Type – if you set it to Fixed, the value of the variable will always be the same. Switching the option to Settable will let you change the value and pass it to the next action or execution

Environment Variables can be defined on 4 levels:

1. Workspace
   • available for all projects and pipelines. Configured in the workspace Preferences.
2. Project
   • available for all pipelines in the project. Configured in the Project Options.
3. Pipeline
   • available only for the pipeline where was created (eg. production server details). Configured in the pipeline details.
4. Action
   • available only for the actions where the variable was defined

Workspace environment variables

Example Usage

Let's configure some variables to encrypt access to an FTP server:

1. Go to your deployment pipeline and click the Variables tab
2. Add variables with the corresponding values. For example:
   • Hostname: FTP_HOST / 192.168.0.100
   • Login: FTP_LOGIN / admin
   • Password: FTP_PASS / buddy1234

Configuring environment variables

3. Now you can use the variables to store access credentials to your deployment server:

Using variables in action

Fields that support ENV VARs

Environment variables are supported across the whole service, but most commonly used in the build actions. You can predict a variable by entering $ at the beginning of the supported field:

Run commands box

Here's the list of the currently supported fields:

^1-4 These fields are not available from the front-end. However, the variables do work if the action is added via the REST API or YAML.

Default environment variables

Buddy populates a number of environment variables during each execution - for example the branch from which you deploy and the ID of the execution. Here is the list of populated variables:

Below you can find a list of exemplary values for the abovementioned variables:

BUDDY=true
BUDDY_WORKSPACE_URL=https://app.buddy.works/myworkspace
BUDDY_WORKSPACE_ID=1
BUDDY_WORKSPACE_NAME=My Workspace
BUDDY_WORKSPACE_DOMAIN=myworkspace
BUDDY_PROJECT_URL=https://app.buddy.works/myworkspace/my-project
BUDDY_PROJECT_NAME=my-project
BUDDY_PROJECT_NAME_ID=my-project
BUDDY_REPO_SLUG=buddyworks/my-project
BUDDY_REPO_SSH_URL=git@github.com:buddyworks/my-project
BUDDY_SCM_URL=https://github.com/buddyworks/my-project
BUDDY_SCM_PROVIDER=GITHUB
BUDDY_PIPELINE_URL=https://app.buddy.works/myworkspace/my-project/pipelines/pipeline/1
BUDDY_PIPELINE_ID=1
BUDDY_PIPELINE_NAME=Deploy to Production
BUDDY_PIPELINE_REF_NAME=master
BUDDY_PIPELINE_TRIGGER_MODE=CLICK
BUDDY_PIPELINE_TARGET_SITE_URL=https://buddy.works/
BUDDY_INVOKER_URL=https://app.buddy.works/myworkspace/profile/1
BUDDY_INVOKER_ID=1
BUDDY_INVOKER_NAME=Mike Benson
BUDDY_INVOKER_EMAIL=mikebenson@buddy.works
BUDDY_INVOKER_AVATAR_URL=https://app.buddy.works/image-server/user/0/0/0/0/0/0/1/05d20f3d58ce09a3b4e9g3334a810603/w/32/32/AVATAR.png
BUDDY_EXECUTION_URL=https://app.buddy.works/myworkspace/my-project/pipelines/pipeline/1/execution/5d9dc42c422f5a268b389d08
BUDDY_EXECUTION_ID=1
BUDDY_EXECUTION_START_DATE=2019-01-01T11:27:40.140Z
BUDDY_EXECUTION_MODE=CLICK
BUDDY_EXECUTION_CLEAR_CACHE=false
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REFRESH=false
BUDDY_EXECUTION_COMMENT=My first execution
BUDDY_EXECUTION_BRANCH=master
BUDDY_EXECUTION_TAG=v1.0
BUDDY_EXECUTION_PULL_REQUEST_ID=pull/1
BUDDY_EXECUTION_PULL_REQUEST_NO=1
BUDDY_EXECUTION_PULL_REQUEST_BASE_BRANCH=master
BUDDY_EXECUTION_PULL_REQUEST_HEAD_BRANCH=master/feature1
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REVISION=e5e13f8b7f8d5c6096a0501dc09b48eef05fea96
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REVISION_URL=https://app.buddy.works/myworkspace/my-project/repository/commit/e5e13f8b7f8d5c6096a0501dc09b48eef05fea96
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REVISION_SHORT=e5e13f8
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REVISION_MESSAGE=Create buddy.yml
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REVISION_SUBJECT=Create buddy.yml
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REVISION_COMMITTER_EMAIL=mikebenson@buddy.works
BUDDY_EXECUTION_REVISION_COMMITTER_NAME=Mike Benson
BUDDY_EXECUTION_CHANGELOG=[e5e13f8] Create buddy.yml | mikebenson | 2019-01-01T07:14:58
BUDDY_FAILED_ACTION_NAME=Upload files

Combining variables into phrases

Variables can be combined with other words to create longer phrases than can be used, for example, to automatically name your infrastructure, releases, or sandboxes. However, you need to obey the following rules:

• Before the variable: any character is allowed.
• After the variable: letters, numbers, and footers (_) are not allowed.

Correct usage:

release-$BUDDY_EXECUTION_ID-staging
release$BUDDY_EXECUTION_ID:staging
release_$BUDDY_EXECUTION_ID[staging]

Incorrect usage:

release-$BUDDY_EXECUTION_ID_staging (footer)
release-$BUDDY_EXECUTION_IDstaging (letter)
release-$BUDDY_EXECUTION_ID1staging (number)

Passing variables between actions

Passing variables within one pipeline is useful, e.g. when we want to assign file content to a variable and send it in a notification:

Variable passing pipeline example

Passing variables between executions

You can pass the values of variables between executions as well. The values can be saved in one execution and then used in another one, e.g. you can set a variable with the version type and increment it in every execution.

Passing variables between pipelines

You can pass a variable between pipelines using the Run next pipeline action:

1. Go into the Variables tab in the action details.
2. Define the name of the variable and the value to pass: Variables tab

Resetting variables between executions

To reset settable variables between pipeline executions, you can add an action with a command that will clear the value of the variable (preferably at the beginning or at the end of the pipeline):

export mySettableEnv=
$

Reset variable command

Passing variables on execution start

You can parameterize your execution using the Pass arguments action - it will pause the pipeline and wait for your input to proceed:

Pass arguments window