Accessing $BASH_ENV Results in "No such file or directory"

The $BASH_ENV environment variable holds a string that holds the location of a file in the /tmp directory. This is used to pass values between steps in a CircleCI Job.

Typically this is appended to and created within the same step:

  - run: echo "export MY_ENV_VAR=example" >> $BASH_ENV

If a build tries to access that value before it has been created it will result in a not found error:

  - run: cat "$BASH_ENV"
cat: /tmp/.bash_env-5f3d6eeXXXXXXXa54XXXX-0-build: No such file or directory

The solution can be to make sure to run at least one step that appends values to the file listed in $BASH_ENV, and to check that the file exists before using it in any subsequent steps:

  - run: [[ -e $BASH_ENV ]] && cat "$BASH_ENV"

Additional Resources:

• Using parameters and bash environment