github.com/hugorut/terraform@v1.1.3/website/docs/language/functions/templatefile.mdx (about) 1 --- 2 page_title: templatefile - Functions - Configuration Language 3 description: |- 4 The templatefile function reads the file at the given path and renders its 5 content as a template. 6 --- 7 8 # `templatefile` Function 9 10 `templatefile` reads the file at the given path and renders its content 11 as a template using a supplied set of template variables. 12 13 ```hcl 14 templatefile(path, vars) 15 ``` 16 17 The template syntax is the same as for 18 [string templates](/language/expressions/strings#string-templates) 19 in the main Terraform language, including interpolation sequences delimited with 20 `${` ... `}`. This function just allows longer template sequences to be factored 21 out into a separate file for readability. 22 23 The "vars" argument must be a map. Within the template file, each of the keys 24 in the map is available as a variable for interpolation. The template may 25 also use any other function available in the Terraform language, except that 26 recursive calls to `templatefile` are not permitted. Variable names must 27 each start with a letter, followed by zero or more letters, digits, or 28 underscores. 29 30 Strings in the Terraform language are sequences of Unicode characters, so 31 this function will interpret the file contents as UTF-8 encoded text and 32 return the resulting Unicode characters. If the file contains invalid UTF-8 33 sequences then this function will produce an error. 34 35 This function can be used only with files that already exist on disk at the 36 beginning of a Terraform run. Functions do not participate in the dependency 37 graph, so this function cannot be used with files that are generated 38 dynamically during a Terraform operation. 39 40 `*.tftpl` is the recommended naming pattern to use for your template files. 41 Terraform will not prevent you from using other names, but following this 42 convention will help your editor understand the content and likely provide 43 better editing experience as a result. 44 45 ## Examples 46 47 ### Lists 48 49 Given a template file `backends.tftpl` with the following content: 50 51 ``` 52 %{ for addr in ip_addrs ~} 53 backend ${addr}:${port} 54 %{ endfor ~} 55 ``` 56 57 The `templatefile` function renders the template: 58 59 ``` 60 > templatefile("${path.module}/backends.tftpl", { port = 8080, ip_addrs = ["10.0.0.1", "10.0.0.2"] }) 61 backend 10.0.0.1:8080 62 backend 10.0.0.2:8080 63 64 ``` 65 66 ### Maps 67 68 Given a template file `config.tftpl` with the following content: 69 70 ``` 71 %{ for config_key, config_value in config } 72 set ${config_key} = ${config_value} 73 %{ endfor ~} 74 ``` 75 76 The `templatefile` function renders the template: 77 78 ``` 79 > templatefile( 80 "${path.module}/config.tftpl", 81 { 82 config = { 83 "x" = "y" 84 "foo" = "bar" 85 "key" = "value" 86 } 87 } 88 ) 89 set foo = bar 90 set key = value 91 set x = y 92 ``` 93 94 ### Generating JSON or YAML from a template 95 96 If the string you want to generate will be in JSON or YAML syntax, it's 97 often tricky and tedious to write a template that will generate valid JSON or 98 YAML that will be interpreted correctly when using lots of individual 99 interpolation sequences and directives. 100 101 Instead, you can write a template that consists only of a single interpolated 102 call to either [`jsonencode`](/language/functions/jsonencode) or 103 [`yamlencode`](/language/functions/yamlencode), specifying the value to encode using 104 [normal Terraform expression syntax](/language/expressions) 105 as in the following examples: 106 107 ``` 108 ${jsonencode({ 109 "backends": [for addr in ip_addrs : "${addr}:${port}"], 110 })} 111 ``` 112 113 ``` 114 ${yamlencode({ 115 "backends": [for addr in ip_addrs : "${addr}:${port}"], 116 })} 117 ``` 118 119 Given the same input as the `backends.tftpl` example in the previous section, 120 this will produce a valid JSON or YAML representation of the given data 121 structure, without the need to manually handle escaping or delimiters. 122 In the latest examples above, the repetition based on elements of `ip_addrs` is 123 achieved by using a 124 [`for` expression](/language/expressions/for) 125 rather than by using 126 [template directives](/language/expressions/strings#directives). 127 128 ```json 129 {"backends":["10.0.0.1:8080","10.0.0.2:8080"]} 130 ``` 131 132 If the resulting template is small, you can choose instead to write 133 `jsonencode` or `yamlencode` calls inline in your main configuration files, and 134 avoid creating separate template files at all: 135 136 ```hcl 137 locals { 138 backend_config_json = jsonencode({ 139 "backends": [for addr in ip_addrs : "${addr}:${port}"], 140 }) 141 } 142 ``` 143 144 For more information, see the main documentation for 145 [`jsonencode`](/language/functions/jsonencode) and [`yamlencode`](/language/functions/yamlencode). 146 147 ## Related Functions 148 149 * [`file`](/language/functions/file) reads a file from disk and returns its literal contents 150 without any template interpretation.