Accessing environment variables in python

Question

Why does this not print out 'xxx'?

$ SECRET_KEY='xxx' python -c 'import os; print os.environ['SECRET_KEY']'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'SECRET_KEY' is not defined

mgilson · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-11 16:11:32Z

3

You're shell quoting is off and as a result, python sees:

import os; print os.environ[SECRET_KEY]

(note the missing quotes). This should work:

SECRET_KEY='xxx' python -c "import os; print os.environ['SECRET_KEY']"

should work.

answered Sep 11, 2015 at 16:11

mgilson

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2 Comments

Erik Over a year ago

That's it. I need more coffee.

mgilson Over a year ago

Try chai tea :-)... That's what I'm drinking (Yum!)

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