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coder/docs/admin/provisioners.md

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# Provisioners
By default, the Coder server runs [built-in provisioner daemons](../cli/server.md#provisioner-daemons), which execute `terraform` during workspace and template builds. However, there are sometimes benefits to running external provisioner daemons:
- **Secure build environments:** Run build jobs in isolated containers, preventing malicious templates from gaining shell access to the Coder host.
- **Isolate APIs:** Deploy provisioners in isolated environments (on-prem, AWS, Azure) instead of exposing APIs (Docker, Kubernetes, VMware) to the Coder server. See [Provider Authentication](../templates/authentication.md) for more details.
- **Isolate secrets**: Keep Coder unaware of cloud secrets, manage/rotate secrets on provisoner servers.
- **Reduce server load**: External provisioners reduce load and build queue times from the Coder server. See [Scaling Coder](./scale.md#concurrent-workspace-builds) for more details.
> External provisioners are in an [alpha state](../contributing/feature-stages.md#alpha-features) and the behavior is subject to change. Use [GitHub issues](https://github.com/coder/coder) to leave feedback.
## Running external provisioners
Each provisioner can run a single [concurrent workspace build](./scale.md#concurrent-workspace-builds). For example, running 30 provisioner containers will allow 30 users to start workspaces at the same time.
### Requirements
- The [Coder CLI](../cli.md) must installed on and authenticated as a user with the Owner or Template Admin role.
- Your environment must be [authenticated](../templates/authentication.md) against the cloud environments templates need to provision against.
### Types of provisioners
- **Generic provisioners** can pick up any build job from templates without provisioner tags.
```sh
coder provisionerd start
```
- **Tagged provisioners** can be used to pick up build jobs from templates (and corresponding workspaces) with matching tags.
```sh
coder provisionerd start \
--tag environment=on_prem \
--tag data_center=chicago
# In another terminal, create/push
# a template that requires this provisioner
coder templates create on-prem \
--provisioner-tag environment=on_prem
# Or, match the provisioner exactly
coder templates create on-prem-chicago \
--provisioner-tag environment=on_prem \
--provisioner-tag data_center=chicago
```
> At this time, tagged provisioners can also pick jobs from untagged templates. This behavior is [subject to change](https://github.com/coder/coder/issues/6442).
- **User provisioners** can only pick up jobs from user-tagged templates. Unlike the other provisioner types, any Coder can run user provisioners, but they have no impact unless there is at least one template with the `scope=user` provisioner tag.
```sh
coder provisionerd start \
--tag scope=user
# In another terminal, create/push
# a template that requires user provisioners
coder templates create on-prem \
--provisioner-tag scope=user
```
### Example: Running an external provisioner on a VM
```sh
curl -L https://coder.com/install.sh | sh
export CODER_URL=https://coder.example.com
export CODER_SESSION_TOKEN=your_token
coder provisionerd start
```
### Example: Running an external provisioner via Docker
```sh
docker run --rm -it \
-e CODER_URL=https://coder.example.com/ \
-e CODER_SESSION_TOKEN=your_token \
--entrypoint /opt/coder \
ghcr.io/coder/coder:latest \
provisionerd start
```
## Disable built-in provisioners
As mentioned above, the Coder server will run built-in provisioners by default. This can be disabled with a server-wide [flag or environment variable](../cli/server.md#provisioner-daemons).
```sh
coder server --provisioner-daemons=0
```