packer/website/content/docs/datasources/file.mdx

---
description: |
  The File Data Source writes contents to a file so it can be used
  later during Packer builds
page_title: File - Data Sources
---

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

# File Data Source

Type: `file`

The `file` data source writes the specified contents to a file, creating it in the process if it doesn't exist.

This is particularly useful if you have a file to dynamically generate (with [`templatefile`](/packer/docs/templates/hcl_templates/functions/file/templatefile) for example), and the component you
rely on only accepts files, and not the generated string.
Using this data source, you can use those functions and have the output written to a temporary file that you can
reference in a component afterwards.

Note: being a datasource, the created file is not wiped-out after the build finishes. By default Packer will output
the file into the system's `TEMPDIR` (typically `/tmp` on UNIX systems, or `` on Windows).
You can also change this by specifying a `destination` for the data source.

## Basic Example

```hcl
data "file" "example" {
  contents    = "this is an example"
}
```

## Configuration Reference

### Not Required:

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

## Datasource outputs

The outputs for this datasource are as follows:

@include 'datasource/file/DatasourceOutput.mdx'