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🚀 How to Upload Environment Variables to GitLab CI/CD


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Ruben Alvarado

Managing secrets and configuration in GitLab pipelines doesn’t have to be messy. Here’s a quick guide to securely upload your environment variables and integrate them into your .gitlab-ci.yml workflow.

  • In Gitlab goto left side bar, Settings, CI/CD

  • Go to variables section, click add variable

Variables Menu

  • From right side bar select select visible and deselect protect variable
    Add Variable Menu

  • In Key write the name of the file that will store all the variables

  • In value enter the key and values of your variables (values are written without “)

  • Make sure that your yml script adds the env vars file
    .gitlab-ci.yml

Autotest:
  stage: test
  image: node:22
  before_script:
    - cat "$ENV_VARS" | tr -d '\r' > .env

You’ve now securely injected environment variables into your GitLab CI/CD pipeline. No more hardcoding secrets or juggling config files—just clean, maintainable automation.


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Ruben Alvarado