---
description: |
  The `file` Packer provisioner uploads files to machines built by Packer. Learn how to use the `file` provisioner and about the Packer provisioner workflow.
page_title: file provisioner reference
---

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  <PluginBadge type="official" />
</BadgesHeader>

# `file` provisioner

The `file` Packer provisioner uploads files to machines built by Packer. We recommend implementing the following workflow:

1. Use the `file` provisioner to upload files
1. Use the [`shell` provisioner](/packer/docs/provisioners/shell) to move the files into the proper place, set permissions, and perform other tasks.

You can only upload files to locations that the provisioning user
(generally not root) has permission to access. Creating files in /tmp and
using a shell provisioner to move them into the final location is the only
way to upload files to root owned locations.

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

## Basic Example

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="HCL2">

```hcl
provisioner "file" {
  source = "app.tar.gz"
  destination = "/tmp/app.tar.gz"
}
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON">

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

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Configuration Reference

The available configuration options are listed below.

## Configuration Reference

Required Parameters:

@include 'provisioner/file/Config-required.mdx'

Optional Parameters:

@include '/provisioner/file/Config-not-required.mdx'

@include 'provisioners/common-config.mdx'

## 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. If the destination directory does not exist, the file
provisioner may succeed, but it will have undefined results.

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 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.

**Note:** Packer does not infer behaviors based on the guest operating system,
as this would add unnecessary complexity and reduce maintainability. To ensure
consistent behavior across all platforms, use a trailing forward slash when
specifying directories, even when working with Windows guests.

## Uploading files that don't exist before Packer starts

In general, local files used as the source **must** exist before Packer is run.
This is great for catching typos and ensuring that once a build is started,
that it will succeed. However, this also means that you can't generate a file
during your build and then upload it using the file provisioner later. A
convenient workaround is to upload a directory instead of a file. The directory
still must exist, but its contents don't. You can write your generated file to
the directory during the Packer run, and have it be uploaded later.

## Symbolic link uploads

The behavior when uploading symbolic links depends on the communicator. The
Docker communicator will preserve symlinks, but all other communicators will
treat local symlinks as regular files. If you wish to preserve symlinks when
uploading, it's recommended that you use `tar`. Below is an example of what
that might look like:

```shell-session
$ ls -l files
total 16
drwxr-xr-x  3 mwhooker  staff  102 Jan 27 17:10 a
lrwxr-xr-x  1 mwhooker  staff    1 Jan 27 17:10 b -> a
-rw-r--r--  1 mwhooker  staff    0 Jan 27 17:10 file1
lrwxr-xr-x  1 mwhooker  staff    5 Jan 27 17:10 file1link -> file1
$ ls -l toupload
total 0
-rw-r--r--  1 mwhooker  staff    0 Jan 27 17:10 files.tar
```

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="JSON">

```json
{
  "provisioners": [
    {
      "type": "shell-local",
      "command": "tar cf toupload/files.tar files"
    },
    {
      "destination": "/tmp/",
      "source": "./toupload",
      "type": "file"
    },
    {
      "inline": [
        "cd /tmp && tar xf toupload/files.tar",
        "rm toupload/files.tar"
      ],
      "type": "shell"
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="HCL2">

```hcl
build {
  sources = [
    "source.docker.example"
  ]

  provisioner "shell-local" {
    command = "tar cf toupload/files.tar files"
  }
  provisioner "file" {
    destination = "/tmp/"
    source      = "./toupload"
  }
  provisioner "shell" {
    inline = [
      "cd /tmp && tar xf toupload/files.tar",
      "rm toupload/files.tar"
    ]
  }
}
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Slowness when transferring large files over WinRM.

Because of the way our WinRM transfers works, it can take a very long time to
upload and download even moderately sized files. If you're experiencing slowness
using the file provisioner on Windows, it's suggested that you set up an SSH
server and use the [ssh communicator](/packer/docs/communicators/ssh). If you only want
to transfer files to your guest, and if your builder supports it, you may also
use the `http_directory` or `http_content` directives. This will cause that
directory to be available to the guest over HTTP, and set the environment
variable `PACKER_HTTP_ADDR` to the address.
