file – Keystone Core

file

Manages a single filesystem path — a regular file (content from inline text or a source), a directory, or a symlink — along with its owner, group, and mode. Idempotent: re-applying an unchanged declaration reports no change.

Category: System & core

States

State	Meaning
`present`	A regular file exists with the declared content (or copied from `source`), owner, group, and mode.
`directory`	A directory exists with the declared owner, group, and mode.
`symlink`	A symlink exists at the declared path pointing at `target`.
`absent`	The path does not exist; a file, directory, or symlink there is removed.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`content`	string		Inline file content (state `present`). Mutually exclusive with `source`.
`source`	string		Path to copy content from (state `present`). Mutually exclusive with `content`.
`mode`	string		Permission bits in octal, quoted, e.g. `"0644"`.
`owner`	string		Owning user (name or numeric uid).
`group`	string		Owning group (name or numeric gid).
`target`	string	yes	Symlink target (state `symlink` only).

Examples

Write a config file

file:
  /etc/myapp/config.toml:
    state: present
    content: |
      [server]
      port = 8080
    owner: myapp
    group: myapp
    mode: "0640"

Ensure a directory, then a file inside it

The require requisite orders the file after the directory.

file:
  /opt/myapp:
    state: directory
    mode: "0750"
  /opt/myapp/VERSION:
    state: present
    content: "1.0.0\n"
    require:
      - file: /opt/myapp

Symlink and removal

file:
  /usr/local/bin/myapp:
    state: symlink
    target: /opt/myapp/bin/myapp
  /etc/myapp/old.conf:
    state: absent

Notes

Linux has the full provider; other operating systems get a reduced one.
content and source are mutually exclusive on a present file.

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