How to edit environment variables in a running Docker container

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Docker does not support a direct method for updating environment variables for a running container. This is something you can not call “a bug” because it is consistent with the immutable way Docker runs application. For this reason, the common way to update an environment variable is to re-create the container from the image. Sometimes this can not be done because your container has a state that must be preserved, especially if you are hacking on your machine. If you need to update them, three steps are required. Since I have to do this from time to time, I decided to write this note.

Ops on Alessandro Miliucci

How to edit environment variables in a running Docker container