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---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Provisioner: file"
sidebar_current: "docs-provisioners-file"
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description: |-
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The `file` provisioner is used to copy files or directories from the machine executing Terraform to the newly created resource. The `file` provisioner supports both `ssh` and `winrm` type connections.
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---
# File Provisioner
The `file` provisioner is used to copy files or directories from the machine
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executing Terraform to the newly created resource. The `file` provisioner
supports both `ssh` and `winrm` type [connections ](/docs/provisioners/connection.html ).
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## Example usage
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```hcl
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resource "aws_instance" "web" {
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# ...
# Copies the myapp.conf file to /etc/myapp.conf
provisioner "file" {
source = "conf/myapp.conf"
destination = "/etc/myapp.conf"
}
# Copies the string in content into /tmp/file.log
provisioner "file" {
content = "ami used: ${self.ami}"
destination = "/tmp/file.log"
}
# Copies the configs.d folder to /etc/configs.d
provisioner "file" {
source = "conf/configs.d"
destination = "/etc"
}
# Copies all files and folders in apps/app1 to D:/IIS/webapp1
provisioner "file" {
source = "apps/app1/"
destination = "D:/IIS/webapp1"
}
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}
```
## Argument Reference
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The following arguments are supported:
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* `source` - This is the source file or folder. It can be specified as
relative to the current working directory or as an absolute path. This
attribute cannot be specified with `content` .
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* `content` - This is the content to copy on the destination. If destination is a file,
the content will be written on that file, in case of a directory a file named
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`tf-file-content` is created. It's recommended to use a file as the destination. A
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[`template_file` ](/docs/providers/template/d/file.html ) might be referenced in here, or
any interpolation syntax. This attribute cannot be specified with `source` .
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* `destination` - (Required) This is the destination path. It must be specified as an
absolute path.
## 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.
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First, when using the `ssh` connection type the destination directory must already exist.
If you need to create it, use a remote-exec provisioner just prior to the file provisioner
in order to create the directory. When using the `winrm` connection type the destination
directory will be created for you if it doesn't already exist.
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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 Terraform.
If the source, however, is `/foo/` (a trailing slash is present), and the destination is
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`/tmp` , then the contents of `/foo` will be uploaded directly into `/tmp` .
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This behavior was adopted from the standard behavior of
[rsync ](https://linux.die.net/man/1/rsync ).
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-> **Note:** Under the covers, rsync may or may not be used.