--- layout: "docs" page_title: "Provisioner Connection Settings" sidebar_current: "docs-provisioners-connection" description: |- Managing connection defaults for SSH and WinRM using the `connection` block. --- # Provisioner Connection Settings Most provisioners require access to the remote resource via SSH or WinRM, and expect a nested `connection` block with details about how to connect. -> **Note:** Provisioners should only be used as a last resort. For most common situations there are better alternatives. For more information, see [the main Provisioners page](./). -> **Note:** In Terraform 0.11 and earlier, providers could set default values for some connection settings, so that `connection` blocks could sometimes be omitted. This feature was removed in 0.12 in order to make Terraform's behavior more predictable. -> **Note:** Since the SSH connection type is most often used with newly-created remote resources, validation of SSH host keys is disabled by default. In scenarios where this is not acceptable, a separate mechanism for key distribution could be established and the `host_key` directive documented below explicitly set to verify against a specific key or signing CA. Connection blocks don't take a block label, and can be nested within either a `resource` or a `provisioner`. - A `connection` block nested directly within a `resource` affects all of that resource's provisioners. - A `connection` block nested in a `provisioner` block only affects that provisioner, and overrides any resource-level connection settings. One use case for providing multiple connections is to have an initial provisioner connect as the `root` user to set up user accounts, and have subsequent provisioners connect as a user with more limited permissions. ## Example usage ```hcl # Copies the file as the root user using SSH provisioner "file" { source = "conf/myapp.conf" destination = "/etc/myapp.conf" connection { type = "ssh" user = "root" password = "${var.root_password}" host = "${var.host}" } } # Copies the file as the Administrator user using WinRM provisioner "file" { source = "conf/myapp.conf" destination = "C:/App/myapp.conf" connection { type = "winrm" user = "Administrator" password = "${var.admin_password}" host = "${var.host}" } } ``` ## The `self` Object Expressions in `connection` blocks cannot refer to their parent resource by name. Instead, they can use the special `self` object. The `self` object represents the connection's parent resource, and has all of that resource's attributes. For example, use `self.public_ip` to reference an `aws_instance`'s `public_ip` attribute. -> **Technical note:** Resource references are restricted here because references create dependencies. Referring to a resource by name within its own block would create a dependency cycle. ## Argument Reference **The following arguments are supported by all connection types:** * `type` - The connection type that should be used. Valid types are `ssh` and `winrm`. Defaults to `ssh`. * `user` - The user that we should use for the connection. Defaults to `root` when using type `ssh` and defaults to `Administrator` when using type `winrm`. * `password` - The password we should use for the connection. In some cases this is specified by the provider. * `host` - (Required) The address of the resource to connect to. * `port` - The port to connect to. Defaults to `22` when using type `ssh` and defaults to `5985` when using type `winrm`. * `timeout` - The timeout to wait for the connection to become available. Should be provided as a string like `30s` or `5m`. Defaults to 5 minutes. * `script_path` - The path used to copy scripts meant for remote execution. **Additional arguments only supported by the `ssh` connection type:** * `private_key` - The contents of an SSH key to use for the connection. These can be loaded from a file on disk using [the `file` function](/docs/configuration/functions/file.html). This takes preference over the password if provided. * `certificate` - The contents of a signed CA Certificate. The certificate argument must be used in conjunction with a `private_key`. These can be loaded from a file on disk using the [the `file` function](/docs/configuration/functions/file.html). * `agent` - Set to `false` to disable using `ssh-agent` to authenticate. On Windows the only supported SSH authentication agent is [Pageant](http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.66/htmldoc/Chapter9.html#pageant). * `agent_identity` - The preferred identity from the ssh agent for authentication. * `host_key` - The public key from the remote host or the signing CA, used to verify the connection. **Additional arguments only supported by the `winrm` connection type:** * `https` - Set to `true` to connect using HTTPS instead of HTTP. * `insecure` - Set to `true` to not validate the HTTPS certificate chain. * `use_ntlm` - Set to `true` to use NTLM authentication, rather than default (basic authentication), removing the requirement for basic authentication to be enabled within the target guest. Further reading for remote connection authentication can be found [here](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384295(v=vs.85).aspx). * `cacert` - The CA certificate to validate against. ## Connecting through a Bastion Host with SSH The `ssh` connection also supports the following fields to facilitate connnections via a [bastion host](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastion_host). * `bastion_host` - Setting this enables the bastion Host connection. This host will be connected to first, and then the `host` connection will be made from there. * `bastion_host_key` - The public key from the remote host or the signing CA, used to verify the host connection. * `bastion_port` - The port to use connect to the bastion host. Defaults to the value of the `port` field. * `bastion_user` - The user for the connection to the bastion host. Defaults to the value of the `user` field. * `bastion_password` - The password we should use for the bastion host. Defaults to the value of the `password` field. * `bastion_private_key` - The contents of an SSH key file to use for the bastion host. These can be loaded from a file on disk using [the `file` function](/docs/configuration/functions/file.html). Defaults to the value of the `private_key` field. * `bastion_certificate` - The contents of a signed CA Certificate. The certificate argument must be used in conjunction with a `bastion_private_key`. These can be loaded from a file on disk using the [the `file` function](/docs/configuration/functions/file.html).