docker-machine env

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Set environment variables to dictate that docker should run a command against a particular machine.

$ docker-machine env --help

Usage: docker-machine env [OPTIONS] [arg...]

Display the commands to set up the environment for the Docker client

Description:
   Argument is a machine name.

Options:

   --swarm	Display the Swarm config instead of the Docker daemon
   --shell 	Force environment to be configured for a specified shell: [fish, cmd, powershell, tcsh], default is sh/bash
   --unset, -u	Unset variables instead of setting them
   --no-proxy	Add machine IP to NO_PROXY environment variable

docker-machine env machinename prints out export commands which can be run in a subshell. Running docker-machine env -u prints unset commands which reverse this effect.

$ env | grep DOCKER
$ eval "$(docker-machine env dev)"
$ env | grep DOCKER

DOCKER_HOST=tcp://192.168.99.101:2376
DOCKER_CERT_PATH=/Users/nathanleclaire/.docker/machines/.client
DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
DOCKER_MACHINE_NAME=dev
$ # If you run a docker command, now it runs against that host.
$ eval "$(docker-machine env -u)"
$ env | grep DOCKER
$ # The environment variables have been unset.

The output described above is intended for the shells bash and zsh (if you’re not sure which shell you’re using, there’s a very good possibility that it’s bash). However, these are not the only shells which Docker Machine supports. Docker Machine detects the shells available in your environment and lists them. Docker supports bash, cmd, powershell, and emacs.

If you are using fish and the SHELL environment variable is correctly set to the path where fish is located, docker-machine env name prints out the values in the format which fish expects:

set -x DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY 1;
set -x DOCKER_CERT_PATH "/Users/nathanleclaire/.docker/machine/machines/overlay";
set -x DOCKER_HOST tcp://192.168.99.102:2376;
set -x DOCKER_MACHINE_NAME overlay
# Run this command to configure your shell:
# eval "$(docker-machine env overlay)"

If you are on Windows and using either PowerShell or cmd.exe, docker-machine env Docker Machine should now detect your shell automatically. If the automatic detection does not work, you can still override it using the --shell flag for docker-machine env.

For PowerShell:

$ docker-machine.exe env --shell powershell dev

$Env:DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY = "1"
$Env:DOCKER_HOST = "tcp://192.168.99.101:2376"
$Env:DOCKER_CERT_PATH = "C:\Users\captain\.docker\machine\machines\dev"
$Env:DOCKER_MACHINE_NAME = "dev"
# Run this command to configure your shell:
# docker-machine.exe env --shell=powershell dev | Invoke-Expression

For cmd.exe:

$ docker-machine.exe env --shell cmd dev

set DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
set DOCKER_HOST=tcp://192.168.99.101:2376
set DOCKER_CERT_PATH=C:\Users\captain\.docker\machine\machines\dev
set DOCKER_MACHINE_NAME=dev
# Run this command to configure your shell: copy and paste the above values into your command prompt

Tip: See also, how to unset environment variables in the current shell.

Excluding the created machine from proxies

The env command supports a --no-proxy flag which ensures that the created machine’s IP address is added to the NO_PROXY/no_proxy environment variable.

This is useful when using docker-machine with a local VM provider, such as virtualbox or vmwarefusion, in network environments where an HTTP proxy is required for internet access.

$ docker-machine env --no-proxy default

export DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY="1"
export DOCKER_HOST="tcp://192.168.99.104:2376"
export DOCKER_CERT_PATH="/Users/databus23/.docker/machine/certs"
export DOCKER_MACHINE_NAME="default"
export NO_PROXY="192.168.99.104"
# Run this command to configure your shell:
# eval "$(docker-machine env default)"

You may also want to visit the documentation on setting HTTP_PROXY for the created daemon using the --engine-env flag for docker-machine create.