diff --git a/automation/tests/.env.template b/automation/tests/.env.template
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fff8fe60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automation/tests/.env.template
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+KUBECONFIG='/home/user/.kube/config' 
+DB_SECRET_PASSWORD='...' # any value allowed; requires a capital letter, number, and special character
+NDB_SECRET_USERNAME='...'
+NDB_SECRET_PASSWORD='...'
+NDB_SERVER='https://...:8443/era/v0.9'
+NX_CLUSTER_ID='...' # from /clusters api call
+
+# Optional
+MONGO_SI_CLONING_NAME=mazin-mongo
+MSSQL_SI_CLONING_NAME=mazin-mssql
+MYSQL_SI_CLONING_NAME=mazin-mysql
+POSTGRES_SI_CLONING_NAME=pritika_ft_nov15