aws-env - Secure way to handle environment variables in Docker

aws-env is a small utility that tries to solve problem of passing environment variables to applications in a secure way, especially in a Docker containers. It uses AWS Parameter Store to securely store applications' configuration -- ideal for storing all kind of secrets.

You can use it in two ways:

1. Populate environment variables while starting application inside the docker container (default)
2. Generate .env file (--format=dotenv)

Usage

1. Add parameters to Parameter Store using hierarchy in names:

$ aws ssm put-parameter --name /prod/my-app/DB_USERNAME --value "Username" --type SecureString --key-id "alias/aws/ssm" --region us-west-2
$ aws ssm put-parameter --name /prod/my-app/DB_PASSWORD --value "SecretPassword" --type SecureString --key-id "alias/aws/ssm" --region us-west-2

2. Install aws-env (choose proper prebuilt binary)

$ wget https://github.com/Droplr/aws-env/raw/master/bin/aws-env-linux-amd64 -O aws-env

3. Start your application with aws-env

• AWS_ENV_PATH - path of parameters. If it won't be provided, aws-env will exit immediately. That way, you can run your Dockerfiles locally.
• AWS_REGION and AWS Credentials - configuring credentials

$ eval $(AWS_ENV_PATH=/prod/my-app/ AWS_REGION=us-west-2 ./aws-env) && node -e "console.log(process.env)"

Under the hood, aws-env will export environment parameters fetched from AWS Parameter Store:

$ export DB_USERNAME=$'Username'
$ export DB_PASSWORD=$'SecretPassword'

You can also pass multiple colon separated paths in the AWS_ENV_PATH variable:

$ export "AWS_ENV_PATH=/my-app/:/my-other-app/"

Optional Flags

--recursive

You can pass the --recursive flag. When specified, aws-env will recursively fetch parameters starting from the base path specified in AWS_ENV_PATH. For the exported environment variables, any / characters from sub-paths will be converted to _ characters. For example:

With the following parameters:

$ aws ssm put-parameter --name /prod/my-app/db0/DB_PASSWORD --value "SecretPassword" --type SecureString --key-id "alias/aws/ssm0" --region us-west-2
$ aws ssm put-parameter --name /prod/my-app/db1/DB_PASSWORD --value "OtherSecretPassword" --type SecureString --key-id "alias/aws/ssm1" --region us-west-2

eval $(AWS_ENV_PATH=/prod/my-app/ AWS_REGION=us-west-2 ./aws-env --recursive) will output:

export db0_DB_PASSWORD=$'SecretPassword'
export db1_DB_PASSWORD=$'OtherSecretPassword'

--format

Specify output format of parameters.

• exports (default) - export as environmental variables ready to be eval(...)
• dotenv - used for generating dotenv files

AWS_ENV_PATH=/prod/my-app/ AWS_REGION=us-west-2 ./aws-env --format=dotenv will output:

FOO="bar"
ACME="zaz"

...which then can be easily used to create .env file:

AWS_ENV_PATH=/prod/my-app/ AWS_REGION=us-west-2 ./aws-env --format=dotenv > .env

Example Dockerfile

FROM node:alpine

RUN apk update && apk upgrade && \
  apk add --no-cache openssl ca-certificates

RUN wget https://github.com/Droplr/aws-env/raw/master/bin/aws-env-linux-amd64 -O /bin/aws-env && \
  chmod +x /bin/aws-env

CMD eval $(aws-env) && node -e "console.log(process.env)"

$ docker build -t my-app .

$ docker run -v ~/.aws/:/root/.aws -e AWS_ENV_PATH="/prod/my-app/" -e AWS_REGION=us-west-2 -t my-app

For a local development, you you can still use:

$ docker run -t my-app

Considerations

• As this script is still in development, its usage may change. Lock version to the specific commit to be sure that your Dockerfiles will work correctly! Example:

$ wget https://github.com/Droplr/aws-env/raw/befe6fa44ea508508e0bcd2c3f4ac9fc7963d542/bin/aws-env-linux-amd64

• Many Docker images (e.g. ruby) are using /bin/sh as a default shell. It crashes $'string' notation that enables multi-line variables export. For this reason, to use aws-env, it's required to switch shell to /bin/bash:

CMD ["/bin/bash", "-c", "eval $(aws-env) && rails s Puma"]

• You should never pass AWS credentials inside the containers, instead use IAM Roles for that - Managing Secrets for Amazon ECS Applications Using Parameter Store and IAM Roles for Tasks

• Always use KMS for parameters encryption - store them as "SecureString"