Terraform Tutorials: Basic Workflow Getting Started Guide

• init – Init. Initialize the (local) Terraform environment. Usually executed only once per session.
• plan – Plan. Compare the Terraform state with the as-is state in the cloud, build and display an execution plan. This does not change change the deployment (read-only).
• apply – Apply the plan from the plan phase. This potentially changes the deployment (read and write).
• destroy – Destroy all resources that are governed by this specific terraform environment.

Terraform workflow

Step – 1 – Install terraform

Step – 2 – Decide a providers name which you want to work with?

• Create one directory under your workspace
• Inside directory, create one file called “providers.tf”
• Content of the providers.tf are as follow
• run init command to download aws providers. $ terraform init

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "4.61.0"
    }
	github = {
      source = "integrations/github"
      version = "5.18.3"
    }
  }
}

provider "aws" {
  region     = "us-east-1"
  access_key = ""
  secret_key = ""
}

provider "github" {
  # Configuration options
}
Code language: PHP (php)

Step – 3 – Create 1 AWS ec2 instance using Terraform

• Create aws.tf file in the same directory where providers.tf is located
• Put the following content. Modify AMI id as per your region

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = "ami-007855ac798b5175e"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"

  tags = {
    Name = "HelloWorld-DevOpsSchool"
  }
}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Step – 4 – PLAN (DRY RUN) using terraform plan

• RUN a Dry run command $ terraform plan

Step – 5 – APPLY (Create a Resoureces) using terraform apply

• Run apply command to create resources $ terraform apply

Step – 6 – Verify a AWS ec2 instance at AWS

Step – 7 – APPLY (Update a Resoureces) using terraform apply

• Update tag info in your aws.tf code
• Run $ terraform apply

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = "ami-007855ac798b5175e"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"

  tags = {
    Name = "HelloWorld-Terraform"
  }
}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Step – 8 – Terraform show

Check Statefile in the same directory

Step – 9 – Terraform destroy

Check AWS Account if AWS ec2-instance is destroyed or not

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

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