# /etc/default/telegraf variable not getting substituted in conf files

**URL:** <https://community.influxdata.com/t/etc-default-telegraf-variable-not-getting-substituted-in-conf-files/21365>\
**Category:** Telegraf\
**Created:** [August 24, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/etc-default-telegraf-variable-not-getting-substituted-in-conf-files/21365 "2021-08-24T14:06:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![neo1702](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d9b06d/32.png) [@neo1702](https://community.influxdata.com/u/neo1702)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/etc-default-telegraf-variable-not-getting-substituted-in-conf-files/21365/1 "2021-08-24T14:06:26Z")

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telegraf is not able to substitute variables values defines in /etc/default/telegraf into conf file.  
can someone help me here?

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**Author:** ![neo1702](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d9b06d/32.png) [@neo1702](https://community.influxdata.com/u/neo1702)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://community.influxdata.com/t/etc-default-telegraf-variable-not-getting-substituted-in-conf-files/21365/2 "2021-08-30T13:32:25Z")

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this was because the **EnvironmentFile** variable was incorrectly set and was pointing towards another file.