diff --git a/builder/file/artifact.go b/builder/file/artifact.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..35bf06e6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/file/artifact.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package file
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+)
+
+type FileArtifact struct {
+	filename string
+}
+
+func (*FileArtifact) BuilderId() string {
+	return BuilderId
+}
+
+func (a *FileArtifact) Files() []string {
+	return []string{a.filename}
+}
+
+func (a *FileArtifact) Id() string {
+	return "File"
+}
+
+func (a *FileArtifact) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("Stored file: %s", a.filename)
+}
+
+func (a *FileArtifact) State(name string) interface{} {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (a *FileArtifact) Destroy() error {
+	log.Printf("Deleting %s", a.filename)
+	return os.Remove(a.filename)
+}
diff --git a/builder/file/artifact_test.go b/builder/file/artifact_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0aa77894b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/file/artifact_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package file
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+)
+
+func TestNullArtifact(t *testing.T) {
+	var _ packer.Artifact = new(FileArtifact)
+}
diff --git a/builder/file/builder.go b/builder/file/builder.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..89047ab75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/file/builder.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package file
+
+/*
+The File builder creates an artifact from a file. Because it does not require
+any virutalization or network resources, it's very fast and useful for testing.
+*/
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+)
+
+const BuilderId = "cbednarski.file"
+
+type Builder struct {
+	config *Config
+	runner multistep.Runner
+}
+
+// Prepare is responsible for configuring the builder and validating
+// that configuration. Any setup should be done in this method. Note that
+// NO side effects should take place in prepare, it is meant as a state
+// setup only. Calling Prepare is not necessarilly followed by a Run.
+//
+// The parameters to Prepare are a set of interface{} values of the
+// configuration. These are almost always `map[string]interface{}`
+// parsed from a template, but no guarantee is made.
+//
+// Each of the configuration values should merge into the final
+// configuration.
+//
+// Prepare should return a list of warnings along with any errors
+// that occured while preparing.
+func (b *Builder) Prepare(...interface{}) ([]string, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+// Run is where the actual build should take place. It takes a Build and a Ui.
+func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packer.Artifact, error) {
+	artifact := new(FileArtifact)
+
+	ioutil.WriteFile(b.config.Filename, []byte(b.config.Contents), 0600)
+
+	return artifact, nil
+}
+
+// Cancel cancels a possibly running Builder. This should block until
+// the builder actually cancels and cleans up after itself.
+func (b *Builder) Cancel() {
+	b.runner.Cancel()
+}
diff --git a/builder/file/builder_test.go b/builder/file/builder_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..63d36a0a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/file/builder_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package file
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+)
+
+func TestBuilder_implBuilder(t *testing.T) {
+	var _ packer.Builder = new(Builder)
+}
diff --git a/builder/file/config.go b/builder/file/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..534428ca4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/file/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package file
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/helper/config"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/template/interpolate"
+)
+
+type Config struct {
+	common.PackerConfig `mapstructure:",squash"`
+
+	Filename string `mapstructure:"filename"`
+	Contents string `mapstructure:"contents"`
+}
+
+func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
+	c := new(Config)
+	warnings := []string{}
+
+	err := config.Decode(c, &config.DecodeOpts{
+		Interpolate: true,
+		InterpolateFilter: &interpolate.RenderFilter{
+			Exclude: []string{},
+		},
+	}, raws...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, warnings, err
+	}
+
+	var errs *packer.MultiError
+
+	if c.Filename == "" {
+		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, fmt.Errorf("filename is required"))
+	}
+
+	if c.Contents == "" {
+		warnings = append(warnings, "contents is empty")
+	}
+
+	if errs != nil && len(errs.Errors) > 0 {
+		return nil, warnings, errs
+	}
+
+	return c, warnings, nil
+}
diff --git a/builder/file/config_test.go b/builder/file/config_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..061bb97e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/file/config_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package file
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func testConfig() map[string]interface{} {
+	return map[string]interface{}{
+		"filename": "test.txt",
+		"contents": "Hello, world!",
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNoFilename(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := testConfig()
+
+	delete(raw, "filename")
+	_, _, errs := NewConfig(raw)
+	if errs == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected config to error without a filename")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNoContent(t *testing.T) {
+	raw := testConfig()
+
+	delete(raw, "contents")
+	_, warns, _ := NewConfig(raw)
+	fmt.Println(len(warns))
+	fmt.Printf("%#v\n", warns)
+	if len(warns) == 0 {
+		t.Error("Expected config to warn without any content")
+	}
+}