diff --git a/.ci/Jenkinsfile b/.ci/Jenkinsfile
index 2e99d2b5f1c89b31d092e1da31648fc3ccfca045..49adefd19fbf47ef8506b65a9e90ac115858a1f5 100755
--- a/.ci/Jenkinsfile
+++ b/.ci/Jenkinsfile
@@ -59,13 +59,16 @@ pipeline {
 		skipDefaultCheckout()
 	}
 
+	environment {
+		YASHCHIKI_INSTALL = "${WORKSPACE}/yashchiki"
+		YASHCHIKI_META_DIR = "${WORKSPACE}/meta"
+	}
+
 	stages {
 		stage('Container Build') {
 			// TODO: remove once unused
 			environment {
 				CONTAINER_STYLE = "${params.CONTAINER_STYLE}"
-				YASHCHIKI_INSTALL = "${WORKSPACE}/yashchiki"
-				YASHCHIKI_META_DIR = "${WORKSPACE}/meta"
 				YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT = "${HOME}"
 				YASHCHIKI_SPACK_PATH = "${env.WORKSPACE}/spack"
 				YASHCHIKI_SANDBOXES = "sandboxes"
@@ -130,7 +133,6 @@ pipeline {
 								   "--meta-dir=${YASHCHIKI_META_DIR} " +
 								   "--caches-dir=${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT} " +
 								   "--sandboxes-dir=${YASHCHIKI_SANDBOXES} " +
-								   "--host-env-filename=${WORKSPACE}/host.env " +
 								   "--build-cache-name=${BUILD_CACHE_NAME} " +
 								   ("${CONTAINER_BUILD_TYPE}" == "stable" ? "--update-build-cache " : "") +
 								   "--recipe-filename=${WORKSPACE}/visionary_recipe.def " +
@@ -169,7 +171,6 @@ pipeline {
 					}
 				}
 				cleanup {
-					archiveArtifacts "host.env"
 					archiveArtifacts "out_singularity_build_recipe.txt"
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/bin/yashchiki b/bin/yashchiki
index 9f412e7d585d74ab9578bd4b7f79fe3e3f0d4728..003661c1e5dd4405a34fce0ee1d30f1161d8f41c 100644
--- a/bin/yashchiki
+++ b/bin/yashchiki
@@ -81,10 +81,6 @@ parser.add_argument(
     "--meta-dir", type=pathlib.Path,
     help="Folder where to store meta information to be copied into the "
          "container. If not provided, a temporary directory is used.")
-parser.add_argument(
-    "--host-env-filename", type=pathlib.Path,
-    help="Location of host environment storage file to use within container "
-         "build. If not provided, a temporary location is used.")
 parser.add_argument(
     "--tmp-subdir", type=pathlib.Path, default="",
     help=f"Directory under {tempfile.gettempdir()} which to use as root for "
@@ -133,7 +129,6 @@ paths = [
     args.log_dir,
     args.sandboxes_dir,
     args.meta_dir,
-    args.host_env_filename,
     args.tmp_subdir,
     args.recipe_filename
 ]
@@ -257,14 +252,6 @@ with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(prefix="spack-", dir=env["TMPDIR"]) \
         meta_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
     env = env | {"YASHCHIKI_META_DIR": meta_dir}
 
-    # host environment storage filename defaults to temporary file
-    if args.host_env_filename is not None:
-        host_env_filename = args.host_env_filename
-    else:
-        host_env_filename = temporary_directory.joinpath("host.env")
-    env = env | {"YASHCHIKI_HOST_ENV_PATH": host_env_filename}
-
-    run("lib/yashchiki/store_environment.sh", env)
     run("lib/yashchiki/create_spack_user.sh", env)
     run("lib/yashchiki/create_caches.sh", env)
     run("lib/yashchiki/fetch.sh", env)
diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh b/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
index 5bb6c2a37dcff0a8325a01aff9c5b91422a1982a..4cefda69d5d53eeea3181742ede4a3ff8c3376d8 100755
--- a/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
+++ b/lib/yashchiki/commons.sh
@@ -6,64 +6,13 @@ shopt -s inherit_errexit 2>/dev/null || true
 ROOT_DIR="$(dirname "$(dirname "$(dirname "$(readlink -m "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")")")"
 SOURCE_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -m "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")"
 
-HOST_ENV_FILE_INSIDE="/tmp/spack/host.env"
-if [ -n "${WORKSPACE:-}" ]; then
-    # we are not in container
-    HOST_ENV_FILE="${YASHCHIKI_HOST_ENV_PATH}"
-else
-    HOST_ENV_FILE="${HOST_ENV_FILE_INSIDE}"
-fi
-
-# Usage:
-#   get_host_env <variable-name> [<default>]
-#
-# Get <variable-name> from the host environment dumped at the start of the
-# host job.  If the host environment was not dumped at the beginning of
-# the host job, the regular environment is taken.
-#
-# If the variable is not found and no default value is specified, return 1.
-get_host_env() {
-    # match on variable name at the beginning of line and then delete everyting
-    # up to and including the first equal sign
-    local default default_specified name
-    if (( $# < 0 )); then
-        echo "ERR: Did not specify variable name to query from host env.">&2
-        return 1
-    else
-        name="$1"
-    fi
-
-    if (( $# > 1 )); then
-        default="$2"
-        default_specified=1
-    else
-        default=""
-        default_specified=0
-    fi
-
-    if ! {
-        if [ -f "${HOST_ENV_FILE}" ]; then
-            cat "${HOST_ENV_FILE}"
-        else
-            env
-        fi
-    } | grep "^${name}=" | sed -e "s:^[^=]*=::"; then
-        if (( default_specified )); then
-            echo "${default}"
-        else
-            echo "Variable not found in environment: ${name}" >&2
-            return 1
-        fi
-    fi
-}
-
 #####################
 # SETUP ENVIRONMENT #
 #####################
 
 set_debug_output_from_env() {
     # Enable debug if YASHCHIKI_DEBUG is NOT (-n) empty string
-    if [ -n "$(get_host_env YASHCHIKI_DEBUG "")" ]; then
+    if [ -n "${YASHCHIKI_DEBUG:-}" ]; then
         set -x
     else
         set +x
@@ -78,38 +27,35 @@ export MY_SPACK_VIEW_PREFIX="/opt/spack_views"
 
 export LOCK_FILENAME=lock
 
-BUILD_CACHE_NAME="$(get_host_env BUILD_CACHE_NAME visionary_manual)"
-export BUILD_CACHE_NAME
-
 # NOTE: build caches contain relavite symlinks to preserved_packages, so the
 # relation that build_caches and preserved_packages are in the same folder
 # should be maintained inside the container!
 # --obreitwi, 17-06-20 12:53:20
 
-BASE_BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE="$(get_host_env YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT)/build_caches"
-BASE_BUILD_CACHE_FAILED_OUTSIDE="$(get_host_env YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT)/build_caches/failed"
-BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE="${BASE_BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE}/${BUILD_CACHE_NAME}"
+BASE_BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE="${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT}/build_caches"
+BASE_BUILD_CACHE_FAILED_OUTSIDE="${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT}/build_caches/failed"
+BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE="${BASE_BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE}/${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_NAME}"
 export BASE_BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE
 export BASE_BUILD_CACHE_FAILED_OUTSIDE
 export BUILD_CACHE_OUTSIDE
 
 BASE_BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE="/opt/build_cache"
-BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE="${BASE_BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE}/${BUILD_CACHE_NAME}"
+BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE="${BASE_BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE}/${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_NAME}"
 BUILD_CACHE_LOCK="${BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE}/${LOCK_FILENAME}"
 export BASE_BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE
 export BUILD_CACHE_INSIDE
 export BUILD_CACHE_LOCK
 
-SOURCE_CACHE_DIR="$(get_host_env YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT)/download_cache"
+SOURCE_CACHE_DIR="${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT}/download_cache"
 export SOURCE_CACHE_DIR
 
 PRESERVED_PACKAGES_INSIDE="/opt/preserved_packages"
-PRESERVED_PACKAGES_OUTSIDE="$(get_host_env YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT)/preserved_packages"
+PRESERVED_PACKAGES_OUTSIDE="${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT}/preserved_packages"
 export PRESERVED_PACKAGES_INSIDE
 export PRESERVED_PACKAGES_OUTSIDE
 
 META_DIR_INSIDE="/opt/meta"
-META_DIR_OUTSIDE="$(get_host_env YASHCHIKI_META_DIR)"
+META_DIR_OUTSIDE="${YASHCHIKI_META_DIR:-}"
 export META_DIR_INSIDE
 export META_DIR_OUTSIDE
 
@@ -177,7 +123,7 @@ SPACK_ARGS_INSTALL=()
 SPACK_ARGS_REINDEX=()
 SPACK_ARGS_VIEW=()
 
-if [ -n "$(get_host_env YASHCHIKI_SPACK_VERBOSE)" ]; then
+if [ -n "${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_VERBOSE:-}" ]; then
     SPACK_ARGS_INSTALL+=("--verbose")
     SPACK_ARGS_VIEW+=("--verbose")
     SPACK_ARGS_REINDEX+=("--verbose")
diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/get_host_env.sh b/lib/yashchiki/get_host_env.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 8cbe52abf9c0b0bc3fe47de383c2f480759e339e..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/lib/yashchiki/get_host_env.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-set -euo pipefail
-shopt -s inherit_errexit
-
-# Usage:
-#   get_host_env.sh <variable-name>
-#
-# Stand-alone shell variant to the corresponding function from commons.sh to
-# allow retrieval of environment information in Jenkinsfile.
-#
-# Get <variable-name> from the host environment dumped at the start of the
-# host job.  If the host environment was not dumped at the beginning of
-# the host job, the regular environment is taken.
-#
-# If the variable is not found, return 1.
-
-if (( $# > 1 || $# == 0 )); then
-    echo "ERROR: $0 expects exactly one argument!" >&2
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-SOURCE_DIR="$(dirname "$(readlink -m "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")")"
-source "${SOURCE_DIR}/commons.sh"
-
-get_host_env "$1"
diff --git a/lib/yashchiki/store_environment.sh b/lib/yashchiki/store_environment.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 9a459f10e8b9ae7977352446566273f8fb7987aa..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/lib/yashchiki/store_environment.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-set -euo pipefail
-shopt -s inherit_errexit
-
-# store environment for usage within container
-echo "# Host environment set to:" >&2
-env | tee "${YASHCHIKI_HOST_ENV_PATH}"
diff --git a/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh b/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh
index a35cc0c7ebba33f9dba1141c6726126a172ae93b..8b4bfd14e8900386b281a3753a37ff5bd8357f07 100755
--- a/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh
+++ b/share/yashchiki/styles/asic/create_recipe.sh
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ From: ${DOCKER_BASE_IMAGE}
     ${ROOT_DIR}/share/yashchiki/misc-files/locale.gen /etc/locale.gen
     ${ROOT_DIR}/share/yashchiki/misc-files/locale.alias /etc/locale.alias
     ${ROOT_DIR}/share/yashchiki/misc-files/sudoers /etc/sudoers
-    ${HOST_ENV_FILE} ${HOST_ENV_FILE_INSIDE}
 
 %post
     # ECM: drop docker image caches (often outdated)
@@ -238,6 +237,10 @@ From: ${DOCKER_BASE_IMAGE}
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC_VERSION="${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_GCC_VERSION}"
     export YASHCHIKI_JOBS="${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_CONFIG="/tmp/spack_config"
+    export YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT="${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_NAME="${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_NAME}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_ON_FAILURE_NAME="${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_ON_FAILURE_NAME}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_VERBOSE="${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_VERBOSE}"
     export CONTAINER_STYLE="${CONTAINER_STYLE}"
     "${SPACK_INSTALL_SCRIPTS}/complete_spack_install_routine_called_in_post_as_root.sh"
     wait
diff --git a/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh b/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh
index 3895c95a8f2dc54c034ea0079b937d648ebb7a16..6fa8e3fdd6d34218f2db8e39ffce7fbb2c89ed2c 100755
--- a/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh
+++ b/share/yashchiki/styles/visionary/create_recipe.sh
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ From: ${DOCKER_BASE_IMAGE}
     ${ROOT_DIR}/share/yashchiki/misc-files/locale.gen /etc/locale.gen
     ${ROOT_DIR}/share/yashchiki/misc-files/locale.alias /etc/locale.alias
     ${ROOT_DIR}/share/yashchiki/misc-files/sudoers /etc/sudoers
-    ${HOST_ENV_FILE} ${HOST_ENV_FILE_INSIDE}
 
 %post
     # create a fingerprint by which we can identify the container from within
@@ -80,6 +79,9 @@ From: ${DOCKER_BASE_IMAGE}
     export YASHCHIKI_JOBS="${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}"
     export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_CONFIG="/tmp/spack_config"
     export YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT="${YASHCHIKI_CACHES_ROOT}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_NAME="${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_NAME}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_ON_FAILURE_NAME="${YASHCHIKI_BUILD_CACHE_ON_FAILURE_NAME}"
+    export YASHCHIKI_SPACK_VERBOSE="${YASHCHIKI_SPACK_VERBOSE}"
     export CONTAINER_STYLE="${CONTAINER_STYLE}"
     # Improve efficiency by installing system packages in the background (even
     # though we set the number of worker to \${YASHCHIKI_JOBS}, often times - e.g. when