# Configuration of services running in a container — Copy the file into the container

> Use withCopyFileToContainer() to copy the SQL script into the container's init directory Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically): ```java package com.testcontainers.demo; import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse; import java.util.List; import org.junit.ju

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-docker-fc8c25b5c8d214ab0dc7>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:09.699223+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `docker`, `guides`, `configuration`, `services`, `running`, `container`, `copy`, `file`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/docker/docs/blob/3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244/content/guides/testcontainers-java-service-configuration.md>
- Source name: Docker Documentation
- Source revision: `3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244`
- Source license: `Apache-2.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

Use withCopyFileToContainer() to copy the SQL script into the container's init directory

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```java
package com.testcontainers.demo;

import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;

import java.util.List;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.testcontainers.postgresql.PostgreSQLContainer;
import org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.Container;
import org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.Testcontainers;
import org.testcontainers.utility.MountableFile;

@Testcontainers
class CustomerServiceTest {

  @Container
  static PostgreSQLContainer postgres = new PostgreSQLContainer(
    "postgres:16-alpine"
  )
    .withCopyFileToContainer(
      MountableFile.forClasspathResource("init-db.sql"),
      "/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/"
    );

  CustomerService customerService;

  @BeforeEach
  void setUp() {
    customerService =
    new CustomerService(
      postgres.getJdbcUrl(),
      postgres.getUsername(),
      postgres.getPassword()
    )
```

The withCopyFileToContainer(MountableFile, String) method copies init-db.sql from the classpath into /docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/ inside the container. PostgreSQL executes scripts in that directory automatically at startup.

You can also copy files from any path on the host

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```java
.withCopyFileToContainer(
    MountableFile.forHostPath("/host/path/to/init-db.sql"),
    "/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/"
);
```

Attribution: Adapted from Docker Documentation under Apache-2.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.