Define environment variables

You can configure environment variables in Percona Operator for PostgreSQL for the following purposes:

1. Operator environment variables – To control the Operator’s behavior, such as logging, telemetry, and which namespaces it watches. You set these in the Operator Deployment (for example in deploy/bundle.yaml or via the Helm chart values).
2. Cluster component environment variables – To customize the behavior of cluster components (PostgreSQL, pgBackRest, pgBouncer). You define these in your cluster Custom Resource and, when needed, store sensitive values in Kubernetes Secrets.
3. Backup and restore environment variables – To customize backup and restore flows. You can specify the environment variables either directly in the backup / restore manifest, or reference a Kubernetes Secret that stores sensitive values.

When to use environment variables

Type	Use cases
Operator environment variables	- Control logging for debugging and log aggregation - Manage telemetry - Configure which namespaces the Operator watches (single-namespace vs cluster-wide) - Set the number of concurrent reconciliation workers for multi-cluster environments - Enable feature gates such as auto-growable volumes
Cluster component environment variables	- Customize PostgreSQL, pgBackRest, or pgBouncer behavior - Pass configuration or secrets into Pods - Integrate with external systems or monitoring.
Backup and restore environment variables	- Customize backup and restore operations - Pass configuration or secrets into backup / restore Jobs

Next steps

Configure Operator environment variables Environment variables for cluster components

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Last update: March 19, 2026
Created: February 19, 2026