README.md

Packer File Copy

This module is intended to be used in a Packer template to move all files that template copies into /tmp/packer-files/XXX/YYY into /XXX/YYY. For example, if you used the file provisioner to upload a file to /tmp/packer-files/foo/bar, it will be moved to /foo/bar.

Why not just upload these files directly with Packer? Because:

1. If the destination folder doesn't exist, the file provisioner won't create it. Instead, you just get an error.
2. The file provisioner may not have permissions to write to certain folders (e.g. /opt/my-app) and it can't use sudo.

As a result, using the file provisioner is often a multi-step process where you first copy the files to a temporary folder, then run scripts to create the real destination folder, move your files there, and update permissions. This packer-file-copy module automates all these steps.

For an example of this module in action, see examples/packer-file-copy.

IMPORTANT: The packer file provisioner should look like the following:

{
    "type": "file",
    "source": "{{template_dir}}/files",
    "destination": "/tmp/packer-files"
}

Note how both the source and destination have no trailing slash. Adding a trailing slash will mean Packer will upload files differently than intended.