How to edit environment variables in Backstage.io?

How to edit environment variables in Backstage.io?

Backstage.io is a powerful platform for building developer portals and knowledge graphs. It provides a unified interface for managing and visualizing services, documentation, and other resources. One important aspect of managing services is configuring environment variables. In this blog post, we will explore different ways to edit environment variables in Backstage.io.

1. Editing environment variables through the Backstage UI

The easiest way to edit environment variables in Backstage.io is through the user interface. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Backstage UI and navigate to the service you want to edit the environment variables for.
2. Click on the “Settings” tab.
3. Scroll down to the “Environment Variables” section.
4. Click on the “Edit” button.
5. Modify the existing environment variables or add new ones.
6. Click on the “Save” button to apply the changes.

Here’s an example of how the environment variables section looks like in the Backstage UI:

{
  "env": {
    "API_KEY": "your-api-key",
    "DATABASE_URL": "your-database-url"
  }
}

2. Editing environment variables using the Backstage CLI

If you prefer working with the command line, you can use the Backstage CLI to edit environment variables. Here’s how:

1. Open a terminal and navigate to your Backstage project directory.
2. Run the following command to edit the environment variables for a specific service:

backstage env set SERVICE_NAME VARIABLE_NAME VARIABLE_VALUE

Replace SERVICE_NAME with the name of your service, VARIABLE_NAME with the name of the environment variable you want to edit, and VARIABLE_VALUE with the new value for the environment variable.

3. Editing environment variables in the Backstage configuration file

If you prefer managing environment variables directly in the Backstage configuration file, you can do so by editing the app-config.yaml file. Follow these steps:

1. Open the app-config.yaml file in a text editor.
2. Locate the section for the specific service you want to edit the environment variables for.
3. Add or modify the environment variables in the env section.
4. Save the file.

Here’s an example of how the environment variables section looks like in the app-config.yaml file:

services:
  - name: your-service
    env:
      API_KEY: your-api-key
      DATABASE_URL: your-database-url

By following these methods, you can easily edit environment variables in Backstage.io. Whether you prefer using the UI, the CLI, or the configuration file, Backstage.io provides flexibility and ease of use for managing your services.