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In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to install and run HashiCorp envconsul on an application server. Envconsul fetches key-value pairs from Consul and exposes them as environment variables, automatically watching for changes without manual intervention.

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Prerequisites

  • A running Consul cluster with KV entries under apps/ecommerce
  • SSH access to your application server
  • (Optional) Consul ACL token if your cluster enforces ACLs

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Example KV Entries

Consul KV PathValue
apps/ecommerce/database_host"customer-db"
apps/ecommerce/database"billing"
apps/ecommerce/connection_string"Server=customer-db;Database=billing;User Id=..."

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1. Install envconsul

Download the latest Linux AMD64 binary from HashiCorp’s release archive: 
curl --silent -Lo /tmp/envconsul.zip \
  https://releases.hashicorp.com/envconsul/0.11.0/envconsul_0.11.0_linux_amd64.zip
Unzip and move the binary into your PATH: 
unzip /tmp/envconsul.zip -d /tmp
sudo mv /tmp/envconsul /usr/local/bin/
Verify the installation: 
envconsul --version
# => envconsul v0.11.0
Make sure to update the version number in the URL if a newer release is available.

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2. Fetch and Export KV Data

Use envconsul to pull all keys under the apps/ecommerce prefix and convert them to uppercase environment variables: 
envconsul \
  -prefix="apps/ecommerce" \
  -uppercase \
  -- printenv
Sample output: 
DATABASE_HOST=customer-db
DATABASE=billing
CONNECTION_STRING=Server=customer-db;Database=billing;User Id=...

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Common Flags

FlagDescription
-prefixConsul KV path to fetch
-uppercaseConvert all keys to uppercase environment variable
--Separator before the command to execute

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3. Launch Your Application with envconsul

To ensure your application picks up the variables at startup and on any KV change: 
envconsul \
  -prefix="apps/ecommerce" \
  -uppercase \
  -- ./start-your-app.sh
If your app requires a Consul ACL token, set CONSUL_HTTP_TOKEN in the environment or pass -token to envconsul.

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Summary

In this demo, you:
  1. Installed envconsul on a Linux server.
  2. Retrieved KV pairs from Consul and exposed them as environment variables.
  3. Launched your application to inherit and watch for configuration updates automatically.
By integrating envconsul, your service maintains up-to-date settings without manual polling or restarts.

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