| --- |
| page_title: basename - Functions - Configuration Language |
| description: |- |
| The basename function removes all except the last portion from a filesystem |
| path. |
| --- |
| |
| # `basename` Function |
| |
| `basename` takes a string containing a filesystem path and removes all except |
| the last portion from it. |
| |
| This function works only with the path string and does not access the |
| filesystem itself. It is therefore unable to take into account filesystem |
| features such as symlinks. |
| |
| If the path is empty then the result is `"."`, representing the current |
| working directory. |
| |
| The behavior of this function depends on the host platform. On Windows systems, |
| it uses backslash `\` as the path segment separator. On Unix systems, the slash |
| `/` is used. |
| |
| Referring directly to filesystem paths in resource arguments may cause |
| spurious diffs if the same configuration is applied from multiple systems or on |
| different host operating systems. We recommend using filesystem paths only |
| for transient values, such as the argument to [`file`](/language/functions/file) (where |
| only the contents are then stored) or in `connection` and `provisioner` blocks. |
| |
| ## Examples |
| |
| ``` |
| > basename("foo/bar/baz.txt") |
| baz.txt |
| ``` |
| |
| ## Related Functions |
| |
| * [`dirname`](/language/functions/dirname) returns all of the segments of a filesystem path |
| _except_ the last, discarding the portion that would be returned by |
| `basename`. |
