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When I am trying to set environment variables using PowerShell in Windows Terminal with the command set test1=value1, I get no errors. However, when I try to check all environment variables using the set command, I get the following prompt:

cmdlet Set-Variable at command pipeline position 1
Supply values for the following parameters:
Name[0]:

I read that when using PowerShell you set environment vars using this:

$Env:test1 = "value1";

I want to set the variables so that on my backend in custom-environment-variables.json I can store a name by which config can extract it using config.get("test").

custom-environment-variables.json:

{
    "test": "test1",
}

But every time I try this, it says Error: Configuration property "test" is not defined.

Doing the same procedure CMD (either directly or through Windows Terminal) I get no issues whatsoever. Any ideas what might be causing this?

NotTheDr01ds
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George Trifinger
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  • Welcome to Stack Overflow! What shell are you using in Windows Terminal? Also CMD? PowerShell? WSL? – NotTheDr01ds Feb 23 '22 at 20:10
  • @NotTheDr01ds I am using Windows Powershell on Windows 10. Also with cmd I meant the basic Command Prompt that windows provides. – George Trifinger Feb 23 '22 at 20:13
  • Right - Okay, so try this. Does it work properly when you run Windows Terminal but choose the "Command Prompt" profile? I expect that it might. If so, what you are really asking about is a difference between the way things operate in PowerShell vs CMD. Windows Terminal may not factor in. Or it might -- let me know, and add anything you find out to your question in an edit. Thanks! – NotTheDr01ds Feb 23 '22 at 20:15
  • I've provided an answer that will *hopefully* help, but this is more a comment to let you know that I've also edited your question -- Please review the edit and make sure I'm still representing your question and scenario accurately. Feel free to make additional edits, of course, if needed. Thanks! – NotTheDr01ds Feb 23 '22 at 21:42

1 Answers1

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First, the easy part:

I get no errors but when I try to check all env. variables calling "set" I get the following prompt:

That's because the set command in PowerShell behaves differently. It's an alias for the PowerShell Set-Variable cmdlet. You can see this with Get-Alias.

Also, PowerShell variables are not environment variables. As you commented, the proper way to set an environment variable in PowerShell is with:

$env:variablename = "value"

The equivalent command to set (to get a list of all environment variables and their values) in PowerShell is:

Get-ChildItem env:
# Or using the alias
dir env:
# Or using another alias
ls env:

This access the PowerShell "environment provider", which is essentially (my grossly oversimplified summary) a "virtual drive/filesystem" that PowerShell provides which contains the environment variables. You can also create variables in here.

More reading: about_Environment_Variables from the PowerShell Doc.

As for the core issue with the config module, I haven't been able to reproduce that. It works correctly for me in both PowerShell and CMD. So let me run through my results in the hopes that it will help you see what might be different. All tests were performed in Windows Terminal, although as we've determined in the comments, this is more a difference in PowerShell vs. CMD for you:

config\default.json:

{
  "test": "Original Value"
}

config\custom-environment-variables.json:

{
  "test": "test1"
}

CMD without test1 variable set:

Running node in CMD:

> const config = require('config')
undefined
> config.get('test')
'Original Value'
>

CMD with test1 variable set:

Exit Node, and back in CMD:

>set test1=Override
>node

In Node:

Welcome to Node.js v14.16.1.
Type ".help" for more information.
> const config = require('config')
undefined
> config.get('test')
'Override'
>

PowerShell without test1 variable set:

Welcome to Node.js v14.16.1.
Type ".help" for more information.
> const config = require('config')
undefined
> config.get('test')
'Original Value'
>

PowerShell with test1 variable set:

In PowerShell:

PS1> $env:test1="Override"
PS1> node

In Node:

Welcome to Node.js v14.16.1.
Type ".help" for more information.
> const config = require('config')
undefined
> config.get('test')
'Override'
>
NotTheDr01ds
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