sam local: --env-vars parameter does not work with "start-api" subcommand about aws-sam-cli

[1nfility]

If it helps anyone, I found out that by setting empty environment variables in the template.yml, the env vars from your JSON environment variables file will get loaded.

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Transform: AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31
Description: test

Resources:
  TestFunction:
    Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
    Properties:
      CodeUri: ./
      Handler: app.handler
      Runtime: nodejs12.x
      MemorySize: 2048
      Environment:
        Variables:
          TEST_ENV: ""
      Events:
        Api:
          Type: Api
          Properties:
            Path: /
            Method: get

{
  "TestFunction": {
    "TEST_ENV": "foo"
  }
}

With this, TEST_ENV gets loaded, and the value is "foo".

sam local start-api -n env.json

[sanathkr]

Actually this is already in the readme.. but probably not too explicit (https://github.com/awslabs/aws-sam-cli/blob/develop/docs/advanced_usage.rst#environment-variable-file).

@sashokbg would you be interested in sending a PR?

Closing the issue because this is not a bug.

[kenjim83]

@1nfility thank you for the above! AWS really needs to handle this better or add this info to their docs. Was racking my brain trying to figure out why env vars weren't working for same local invoke...

[david-christensen]

FWIW - This seems to work for me only when my env file is in the project root directory, which is also where I'm running the command sam local start-api --env-vars=.env.json

It also would not work until I set blank Environment Variables in the template.yml.

It would be nice to be able to use ENV variables only for local development, without having to set them on the function. 🤷‍♂

[nibab]

I'm encountering this issue with 0.2.8. Can anyone repro?

[stephen84s]

Encountering it in 0.5.0 version too :-/

[mrvladis]

@david-christensen Thanks a lot for you post. That workaround worked for me as well!

[sanathkr]

That's weird. Are you using the same env-vars.json as the blog post?

[heikkis]

Docker inspect confirms on OSX Docker that no envs are passed to container. Triple checked env.json and template.yaml file match.

If passed as sam commnad line it appears on docker environment and of course works also for OS.getenv in lambda function.

{
  "VoteSpacesTabs": {
    "TABLE_NAME": "spaces-tabs-votes",
    "BUCKET_NAME": "mybucket"
  }
}

AWSTemplateFormatVersion : '2010-09-09'
Transform: AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31
Resources:
  VotesTable:
    Type: "AWS::Serverless::SimpleTable"
  VoteSpacesTabs:
    Type: "AWS::Serverless::Function"
    Properties:
      Runtime: python3.6
      Handler: lambda_function.lambda_handler
      Policies: AmazonDynamoDBFullAccess
      Timeout: 10
      Environment:
        Variables:
          TABLE_NAME: !Ref VotesTable
      Events:
        Vote:
          Type: Api
          Properties:
            Path: /
            Method: post

[PaulMaddox]

I believe this is fixed in the develop branch, but just hasn't been released.

Pull request: #29
Commit: PaulMaddox@5f6bb38

[sanathkr]

Okay, this makes sense. I will release new build to NPM today.

[sanathkr]

Duplicate of #28

[sashokbg]

Same problem here with 0.6.0

[sanathkr]

Re-opening because people are hitting this bug again

[sanathkr]

Looking at the fix for original bug (#28 - Must use function logicalId to get env vars from EnvVars.json), I don't think you guys are hitting the same bug. We have an integration test for this issue that is passing:

Test: https://github.com/awslabs/aws-sam-cli/blob/develop/tests/integration/local/invoke/test_integrations_cli.py#L68-L77
SAM Template used in the test: https://github.com/awslabs/aws-sam-cli/blob/develop/tests/integration/testdata/invoke/template.yml#L45-L53
Env Vars file used in test: https://github.com/awslabs/aws-sam-cli/blob/develop/tests/integration/testdata/invoke/vars.json

Can you @sashokbg or others post a sample to repro the issue?

NOTE: SAM CLI will pass env vars that are defined in the function. ie. If your function has defined variable Foo, but in your env-var.json you are passing value for variable Bar, then your container will not get the value for Bar.

[sashokbg]

Hello @sanathkr

I just did a test and it worked !

What I missed was that I needed to declare the environment variable in my function.
It does not just pass any env variable it finds.

Do you think we should probably update the readme ?

Thank you for your help !
Best regards
Alex

[scorphus]

No more docs?

[scorphus]

It's not working. Is there any FULL example?

[lukeshay]

This should help @scorphus, https://github.com/awslabs/aws-sam-cli/blob/develop/tests/integration/testdata/invoke/vars.json

[9oelM]

@1nfility thank you for that. you really saved my life man. That one really works.