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layout	page_title
docs	File Provisioner

File Provisioner

Type: file

The file provisioner uploads files to machines built by Packer. The recommended usage of the file provisioner is to use it to upload files, and then use shell provisioner to move them to the proper place, set permissions, etc.

The file provisioner can upload both single files and complete directories.

Basic Example

{
  "type": "file",
  "source": "app.tar.gz",
  "destination": "/tmp/app.tar.gz"
}

Configuration Reference

The available configuration options are listed below. All elements are required.

• source (string) - The path to a local file or directory to upload to the machine. The path can be absolute or relative. If it is relative, it is relative to the working directory when Packer is executed. If this is a directory, the existence of a trailing slash is important. Read below on uploading directories.

• destination (string) - The path where the file will be uploaded to in the machine. This value must be a writable location and any parent directories must already exist.

Directory Uploads

The file provisioner is also able to upload a complete directory to the remote machine. When uploading a directory, there are a few important things you should know.

First, the destination directory must already exist. If you need to create it, use a shell provisioner just prior to the file provisioner in order to create the directory.

Next, the existence of a trailing slash on the source path will determine whether the directory name will be embedded within the destination, or whether the destination will be created. An example explains this best:

If the source is /foo (no trailing slash), and the destination is /tmp, then the contents of /foo on the local machine will be uploaded to /tmp/foo on the remote machine. The foo directory on the remote machine will be created by Packer.

If the source, however, is /foo/ (a trailing slash is present), and the destination is /tmp, then the contents of /foo will be uploaded directly into /tmp directly.

This behavior was adopted from the standard behavior of rsync. Note that under the covers, rsync may or may not be used.