Using ConfigMaps

Like secrets, you can use ConfigMaps as environment variables or using a volume mount. They must exist prior to being used by a Pod, unless marked as optional. They also reside in a specific namespace.

In the case of environment variables, your pod manifest will use the valueFrom key and the configMapKeyRef value to read the values. For instance:

env:
- name: SPECIAL_LEVEL_KEY
  valueFrom:
    configMapKeyRef:
      name: special-config
      key: special.how

With volumes, you define a volume with the configMap type in your pod and mount it where it needs to be used.

volumes:
    - name: config-volume
      configMap:
        name: special-config