Terraform Training - Infrastructure as Code Guide

Overview

Terraform is an open-source Infrastructure as Code tool that enables you to safely and predictably create, change, and improve infrastructure. This training covers HCL syntax, providers, state management, and production-ready patterns.

Core Concepts

HCL Syntax - HashiCorp Configuration Language basics
Providers - AWS, Azure, GCP, and 1000+ more
Resources - Declaring infrastructure components
Data Sources - Querying existing infrastructure
Variables & Outputs - Parameterization and values

State Management

Local State - Default state file management
Remote State - S3, Azure Blob, Terraform Cloud
State Locking - Prevent concurrent modifications
State Commands - import, mv, rm, pull, push

Sample AWS Configuration

                        
# Configure the AWS Provider
terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
  
  backend "s3" {
    bucket         = "my-terraform-state"
    key            = "prod/terraform.tfstate"
    region         = "us-east-1"
    encrypt        = true
    dynamodb_table = "terraform-locks"
  }
}

provider "aws" {
  region = var.aws_region
}

# Create VPC
resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
  cidr_block           = var.vpc_cidr
  enable_dns_hostnames = true
  enable_dns_support   = true
  
  tags = {
    Name        = "${var.environment}-vpc"
    Environment = var.environment
  }
}

# Create EC2 Instance
resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  count         = var.instance_count
  ami           = data.aws_ami.amazon_linux.id
  instance_type = var.instance_type
  subnet_id     = aws_subnet.public[count.index].id
  
  tags = {
    Name = "${var.environment}-web-${count.index + 1}"
  }
}
                        
                    

Modules

Module Structure - Organizing reusable components
Terraform Registry - Public module repository
Module Versioning - Semantic versioning
Module Composition - Nested modules

Workspaces & Environments

Workspaces - Multiple state environments
Environment Separation - Dev, staging, prod
.tfvars Files - Environment-specific variables

Terraform Workflow

                        
# Initialize working directory
terraform init

# Validate configuration
terraform validate

# Format code
terraform fmt -recursive

# Plan changes
terraform plan -out=tfplan

# Apply changes
terraform apply tfplan

# Destroy infrastructure
terraform destroy
                        
                    

Certification

HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003)

Terraform