# One more env issue **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Tags:** lambda-functions, environment-vars, building\ **Created:** [February 24, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://answers.netlify.com/t/one-more-env-issue/9484 "2020-02-24T14:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2
**Author:** ![fool](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/netlify/user_avatar/answers.netlify.com/fool/32/37_2.png) [@fool](https://answers.netlify.com/u/fool)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://answers.netlify.com/t/one-more-env-issue/9484/2 "2020-02-25T22:28:48Z")
This is how I handle keys, since carriage returns are really tough in environment variables: > [@\[Support Guide\] Using an SSH key via environment variable during build](https://answers.netlify.com/t/common-issue-using-an-ssh-key-via-environment-variable-during-build/2457): > > Last checked by Netlify Support Team: December 2022 Some workflows require use of an SSH private key during build - for instance, logging in to a server to restart your backend, or using git clone on a private repo during build. There are [better ways](https://answers.netlify.com/t/common-issue-how-do-i-access-private-repositories-in-the-build-environment/723) to accomplish this goal for most use cases, but in case you choose to do that, below is an approach that can work. First, create an ssh key and add the public key (shorter one) to your service (e.g. on your GitHub repo settings, or in ~/.ssh/auth… Additionally, please note that there is a hard limit of 4k total characters in environment shipped to a lambda function - in the format: `VAR1=val1,VAR2=val2 ...` so…it’s pretty challenging to get that key in there depending on length! --- _[View the full topic](https://answers.netlify.com/t/one-more-env-issue/9484)._