Import data to config map from kubernetes secret

Kubernetes can’t make that substitution for you, you should do it with shell in the entrypoint of the container.

This is a working example. I modify the default entrypoint to create a new variable with that substitution. After this command you should add the desired entrypoint.

apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: app
  labels:
    app: backend
spec:
  replicas: 1
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: backend
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: app
        image: simple-app-image
        command:
          - /bin/bash
          - -c
        args:
          - "NEW_APP_CONFIG=$(echo $APP_CONFIG | envsubst) && echo $NEW_APP_CONFIG && <INSERT IMAGE ENTRYPOINT HERE>"
        ports:
          - name: "app"
            containerPort: 8080
        env:
          - name: APP_CONFIG
            valueFrom:
              configMapKeyRef:
                name: config
                key: APP_CONFIG
          - name: DB_PASSWORD
            valueFrom:
              secretKeyRef:
                name: "mysql-secret"
                key: "mysql-root-password"