packer/website/content/docs/templates/hcl_templates/functions/contextual/consul.mdx

---
page_title: consul function reference
description: The `consul` function retrieves secrets from HashiCorp Consul KV stores. Learn how to use the `consul` function in Packer templates.
---

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> [!IMPORTANT]  
> **Documentation Update:** Product documentation previously located in `/website` has moved to the [`hashicorp/web-unified-docs`](https://github.com/hashicorp/web-unified-docs) repository, where all product documentation is now centralized. Please make contributions directly to `web-unified-docs`, since changes to `/website` in this repository will not appear on developer.hashicorp.com.
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# `consul_key` Function

Retrieves secrets from a HashiCorp Consul KV store. You can use the `consul_key` function secrets to add them to your template. Refer to the [Consul documentation](/consul/docs/dynamic-app-config/kv) for additional information about the Consul KV.

You can either use this function in a locals block or directly inline where you
want to use the value.

```hcl
locals {
  my_version = "${consul_key("myservice/version")}"
}

source "null" "first-example" {
  communicator = "none"
}

build {
  name = "my-build-name"
  sources = ["null.first-example"]

  provisioner "shell-local" {
    environment_vars = ["TESTVAR=${build.PackerRunUUID}"]
    inline = ["echo my_version is '${local.my_version}'",
              "echo version is '${consul_key("myservice/version")}'."]
  }
}
```

This will load the key stored at the path `myservice/version` from consul.

The configuration for consul (address, tokens, ...) must be specified as
environment variables, as specified in the
[Documentation](/consul/commands#environment-variables).