<p>Environment variables are defined inside the container and some are passed in the task definition. So you can use <a href="http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ecs/describe-task-definition.html" rel="noreferrer">describe-task-definition</a> to see the extra variables.</p>

<p>To get the default environment of the container image, you can <a href="http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ecs/register-task-definition.html" rel="noreferrer">register-task-definition</a> for task with command 'env' and the specific container image for which you want to find out and then <a href="http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ecs/run-task.html" rel="noreferrer">run-task</a> this task.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-03T19:09:58.510Z
2017-05-03T19:09:58.510Z
Jiri Klouda
<p>What AWS CLI command should I be using to access the environment variables in an AWS ECS cluster's task's container? </p>

<p>I've seen <code>describe-cluster</code>, <code>list-tasks</code>, <code>describe-tasks</code>, <code>describe-container-instances</code>, etc... I can't seem to find one that lets me look at environment variables.</p>

<p>Is this doable via the AWS CLI? </p>

<amazon-ecs><aws-cli>
How to get environment variables in ECS container?
Alex
# How to get environment variables in ECS container?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-02)

What AWS CLI command should I be using to access the environment variables in an AWS ECS cluster's task's container?

I've seen `describe-cluster`, `list-tasks`, `describe-tasks`, `describe-container-instances`, etc... I can't seem to find one that lets me look at environment variables.

Is this doable via the AWS CLI?

**Tags:** amazon-ecs, aws-cli


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-05-03. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

Environment variables are defined inside the container and some are passed in the task definition. So you can use [describe-task-definition](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ecs/describe-task-definition.html) to see the extra variables.

To get the default environment of the container image, you can [register-task-definition](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ecs/register-task-definition.html) for task with command 'env' and the specific container image for which you want to find out and then [run-task](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ecs/run-task.html) this task.


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