Environment Variables

Purpose: For platform engineers, provides the environment variables the CLI reads and clarifies which ones belong to GA infrastructure providers versus service integrations.

Precedence

When the same setting is available through multiple sources, the CLI resolves in this order (highest wins):

1. CLI flags (e.g., --log-level)
2. Environment variables
3. Cluster config file
4. CLI settings file
5. Built-in defaults

CLI Variables

Variable	Description	Default
OPENCENTER_CONFIG_DIR	Root configuration directory	~/.config/opencenter
OPENCENTER_CLUSTERS_DIR	Cluster storage directory	${OPENCENTER_CONFIG_DIR}/clusters
OPENCENTER_STATE_DIR	State directory (bootstrap, audit, locks)	~/.local/state/opencenter
OPENCENTER_PLUGINS_DIR	Plugins directory	${OPENCENTER_CONFIG_DIR}/plugins
OPENCENTER_LOG_LEVEL	Log verbosity: debug, info, warn, error	info
OPENCENTER_CLUSTER	Active cluster name	Set by opencenter cluster use
OPENCENTER_ORG	Default organization	None
OPENCENTER_GITOPS_DIR	GitOps repos output directory	${OPENCENTER_CLUSTERS_DIR}/gitops
OPENCENTER_SECRETS_DIR	Secrets storage directory	${OPENCENTER_CLUSTERS_DIR}/secrets
OPENCENTER_SESSION_FILE	Shell session tracking file	None
EDITOR	Editor for opencenter cluster edit	vi
KIND_EXPERIMENTAL_PROVIDER	Optional Kind runtime override (e.g., podman)	unset

OPENCENTER_LOG_LEVEL

Controls CLI log verbosity. Valid values: debug, info, warn, error.

Precedence (highest wins):

1. --log-level flag
2. OPENCENTER_LOG_LEVEL environment variable
3. Default: info

# Use env var (no flag)
export OPENCENTER_LOG_LEVEL=debug
opencenter cluster list          # runs at debug level

# Flag overrides env var
export OPENCENTER_LOG_LEVEL=debug
opencenter cluster list --log-level error   # runs at error level

# Default when neither is set
unset OPENCENTER_LOG_LEVEL
opencenter cluster list          # runs at info level

Cluster Variables (set by opencenter cluster env)

Variable	Description
OPENCENTER_CLUSTER	Currently active cluster identifier
KUBECONFIG	Path to cluster kubeconfig file
ANSIBLE_INVENTORY	Path to Kubespray inventory file
PATH	Prepended with cluster-specific bin/ directory

Secrets Variables

Variable	Description
SOPS_AGE_KEY_FILE	Path to the Age private key file for SOPS decryption
SOPS_AGE_KEY	Age private key value (alternative to file)

OpenStack Provider Variables

Variable	Description
OS_AUTH_URL	Keystone authentication URL
OS_PROJECT_NAME	OpenStack project name
OS_USERNAME	OpenStack username
OS_PASSWORD	OpenStack password
OS_REGION_NAME	OpenStack region
OS_USER_DOMAIN_NAME	User domain
OS_PROJECT_DOMAIN_NAME	Project domain
OS_CLOUD	OpenStack cloud profile (from clouds.yaml)

VMware Variables

Variable	Description
VSPHERE_SERVER	vCenter server address
VSPHERE_USER	vCenter username
VSPHERE_PASSWORD	vCenter password

These are relevant to VMware integrations such as vSphere CSI and related credential flows.

AWS Variables (Service Integrations)

Variable	Description
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID	AWS access key (for S3, Route53 integrations)
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	AWS secret key
AWS_REGION	AWS region

AWS is used for service integrations (Terraform state in S3, Route53 DNS) — NOT as an infrastructure provider.

Kind Runtime Variable

KIND_EXPERIMENTAL_PROVIDER

Selects a non-default local runtime for Kind, typically Podman:

export KIND_EXPERIMENTAL_PROVIDER=podman
opencenter cluster deploy dev-cluster

Air-Gap Variables (config/versions.env)

Variable	Description
KUBERNETES_VERSION	Target Kubernetes version
KUBESPRAY_VERSION	Kubespray branch or tag
CONTAINERD_VERSION	ContainerD version
CALICO_VERSION	Calico CNI version
OPENCENTER_GITOPS_BASE_REPO	Git URL for gitops-base
OPENCENTER_GITOPS_BASE_VERSION	Branch or tag for gitops-base
TARGET_ARCH	Target architecture (amd64, arm64)

Shell Integration

# Bash/Zsh
eval "$(opencenter cluster env my-cluster)"

# Fish
opencenter cluster env my-cluster --shell fish | source

# PowerShell
opencenter cluster env my-cluster --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression