> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kinetica.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# /upload/files

```
URL: http://<db.host>:<db.port>/upload/files
```

Uploads one or more files to [KiFS](../../tools/kifs/). There are two
methods for uploading files: load files in their entirety, or load files in
parts. The latter is recommended for files of approximately 60 MB or larger.

To upload files in their entirety, populate input parameter *file\_names* with
the file names to upload into on KiFS, and their respective byte content in
input parameter *file\_data*.

Multiple steps are involved when uploading in multiple parts. Only one file at
a time can be uploaded in this manner. A user-provided UUID is utilized to tie
all the upload steps together for a given file.  To upload a file in multiple
parts:

1. Provide the file name in input parameter *file\_names*, the UUID in the
   *multipart\_upload\_uuid* key in input parameter *options*, and a
   *multipart\_operation* value of *init*.
2. Upload one or more parts by providing the file name, the part data in input
   parameter *file\_data*, the UUID, a *multipart\_operation* value of
   *upload\_part*, and the part number in the *multipart\_upload\_part\_number*.
   The part numbers must start at 1 and increase incrementally. Parts may not
   be uploaded out of order.
3. Complete the upload by providing the file name, the UUID, and a
   *multipart\_operation* value of *complete*.

Multipart uploads in progress may be canceled by providing the file name, the
UUID, and a *multipart\_operation* value of *cancel*.  If an new upload is
initialized with a different UUID for an existing upload in progress, the
pre-existing upload is automatically canceled in favor of the new upload.

The multipart upload must be completed for the file to be usable in KiFS.
Information about multipart uploads in progress is available in
[/show/files](/content/api/rest/show_files_rest).

File data may be pre-encoded using base64 encoding. This should be indicated
using the *file\_encoding* option, and is recommended when using JSON
serialization.

Each file path must reside in a top-level KiFS directory, i.e. one of the
directories listed in [/show/directories](/content/api/rest/show_directories_rest).
The user must have write permission on the directory. Nested directories are
permitted in file name paths. Directories are delineated with the directory
separator of '/'.  For example, given the file path '/a/b/c/d.txt', 'a' must be
a KiFS directory.

These characters are allowed in file name paths: letters, numbers, spaces, the
path delimiter of '/', and the characters: '.' '-' ':' '\[' ']' '(' ')' '#' '='.

## Input Parameter Description

<ParamField body="file_names" type="array of strings">
  An array of full file name paths to be used for the files uploaded to KiFS. File names may have any number of nested directories in their paths, but the top-level directory must be an existing KiFS directory. Each file must reside in or under a top-level directory. A full file name path cannot be larger than 1024 characters.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="file_data" type="array of bytes">
  File data for the files being uploaded, for the respective files in input parameter *file\_names*.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="options" type="map of string to strings">
  Optional parameters.

  The default value is an empty map ( \{} ).

  <Expandable title="options">
    <ParamField body="file_encoding">
      Encoding that has been applied to the uploaded file data. When using JSON serialization it is recommended to utilize *base64*. The caller is responsible for encoding the data provided in this payload.

      The default value is `none`.

      * **base64**: Specifies that the file data being uploaded has been base64 encoded.
      * **none**: The uploaded file data has not been encoded.
    </ParamField>

    <ParamField body="multipart_operation">
      Multipart upload operation to perform.

      The default value is `none`.

      * **none**: Default, indicates this is not a multipart upload.
      * **init**: Initialize a multipart file upload.
      * **upload\_part**: Uploads a part of the specified multipart file upload.
      * **complete**: Complete the specified multipart file upload.
      * **cancel**: Cancel the specified multipart file upload.
    </ParamField>

    <ParamField body="multipart_upload_uuid">
      UUID to uniquely identify a multipart upload.
    </ParamField>

    <ParamField body="multipart_upload_part_number">
      Incremental part number for each part in a multipart upload. Part numbers start at 1, increment by 1, and must be uploaded sequentially
    </ParamField>

    <ParamField body="delete_if_exists">
      If *true*, any existing files specified in input parameter *file\_names* will be deleted prior to start of upload. Otherwise the file is replaced once the upload completes.  Rollback of the original file is no longer possible if the upload is cancelled, aborted or fails if the file was deleted beforehand.

      The default value is `false`.

      The supported values are:

      * true
      * false
    </ParamField>
  </Expandable>
</ParamField>

## Output Parameter Description

The Kinetica server embeds the endpoint response inside a standard response structure which contains status information and the actual response to the query.  Here is a description of the various fields of the wrapper:

<ResponseField name="status" type="String">
  'OK' or 'ERROR'
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="message" type="String">
  Empty if success or an error message
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="data_type" type="String">
  'upload\_files\_response' or 'none' in case of an error
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="data" type="String">
  Empty string
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="data_str" type="JSON or String">
  This embedded JSON represents the result of the /upload/files endpoint:

  <Expandable title="data_str">
    <ResponseField name="info" type="map of string to strings">
      Additional information.
    </ResponseField>
  </Expandable>

  Empty string in case of an error.
</ResponseField>