website/content/docs/datasources/index.mdx

---
page_title: Data sources overview
description: |
  A data source holds data you want to use in the Packer configuration. Define a data source in your configuration so that Packer can use external data during builds.
---

# Data sources

Data sources let Packer fetch data to use in a template, including information defined outside of Packer.

Refer to the [`data`](/packer/docs/templates/hcl_templates/datasources) block documentation to learn more about working with data sources. The documentation also contains details about each type of data source.

Data sources are only available in HCL2 templates and require Packer `v1.7.0` and newer.
(3) Add amazon-ami data source (#10467 ) 2021-01-20 11:05:03 +01:00			`---`
seo improvements data sources references 2025-01-21 19:30:41 -08:00			`page_title: Data sources overview`
(3) Add amazon-ami data source (#10467 ) 2021-01-20 11:05:03 +01:00			`description: \|`
seo improvements data sources references 2025-01-21 19:30:41 -08:00			`A data source holds data you want to use in the Packer configuration. Define a data source in your configuration so that Packer can use external data during builds.`
(3) Add amazon-ami data source (#10467 ) 2021-01-20 11:05:03 +01:00			`---`

seo improvements data sources references 2025-01-21 19:30:41 -08:00			`# Data sources`
(3) Add amazon-ami data source (#10467 ) 2021-01-20 11:05:03 +01:00
Content munge devportal (#11982 ) 2022-09-14 16:16:39 -04:00			`Data sources let Packer fetch data to use in a template, including information defined outside of Packer.`
(3) Add amazon-ami data source (#10467 ) 2021-01-20 11:05:03 +01:00
docs: Migrate link formats (#12192 ) 2023-01-27 11:47:08 -06:00			Refer to the [`data`](/packer/docs/templates/hcl_templates/datasources) block documentation to learn more about working with data sources. The documentation also contains details about each type of data source.
Make template documentation visible from components docs (#10611 ) 2021-02-11 14:21:06 +01:00
seo improvements data sources references 2025-01-21 19:30:41 -08:00			Data sources are only available in HCL2 templates and require Packer `v1.7.0` and newer.
Document known limitation of locals being used within a data source (#11864 ) 2022-07-07 12:48:23 -04:00