Expressions

Some fields support expressions - references to environment variables on the host or config variables.

Expressions are supported in:

• build_args on containers
• build_directory on containers
• build_secrets.path on containers
• build_ssh.paths on containers
• environment on containers, tasks and customisations
• the local path in volume mounts on containers

Environment variables

You can use environment variables from the host (ie. where you run Batect) by using any of the following formats:

• $name or ${name}: use the value of name from the host as the value inside the container.

  If name is not set on the host, Batect will show an error message and not start the task.

• ${name:-default}: use the value of name from the host as the value inside the container.

  If name is not set on the host, default is used instead.

  default can be empty, so ${name:-} will use the value of name from the host if it is set, or a blank value if it is not set.

  default is treated as a literal, it cannot be a reference to another variable.

For example, to refer to the value of the MY_PASSWORD environment variable on the host, use $MY_PASSWORD or ${MY_PASSWORD}. Or, to default to insecure if MY_PASSWORD is not set, use ${MY_PASSWORD:-insecure}.

Config variables

You can refer to the value of a config variable with <name or <{name}. Default values for config variables can be specified with default when defining them.

Notes

When given without braces, name can only contain letters, numbers and underscores. Any other characters are treated as literals (eg. $MY_VAR, 2, 3 with MY_VAR set to 1 results in 1, 2, 3).

When given with braces, name can contain any character except a closing brace (}) or colon (:).

Combining expressions and literal values is supported (eg. My password is $MY_PASSWORD or <{SERVER}:8080).

In fields that support expressions, you can escape $ and < with a backslash (\).