Terraform Course - Automate your AWS cloud infrastructure

Introduction

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use Terraform to automate your AWS cloud infrastructure. Terraform is a powerful infrastructure as code tool that allows you to define and manage your cloud resources efficiently. This guide will take you through the essential steps, from setting up your AWS account to deploying your first resource.

Step 1: Set Up a Free AWS Account

• Visit the AWS website and create a free account.
• Complete the sign-up form with your email and password.
• Verify your identity via phone and provide payment information (you won’t be charged for free-tier services).
• Once your account is set up, log in to the AWS Management Console.

Step 2: Install Terraform

For Windows

1. Download Terraform from the official Terraform website.
2. Extract the downloaded ZIP file.
3. Move the terraform.exe file to a directory that is included in your system’s PATH (e.g., C:\Program Files\Terraform).
4. Open Command Prompt and verify the installation:

   terraform -v
   

For Mac

1. Use Homebrew to install Terraform:

   brew tap hashicorp/tap
   brew install hashicorp/tf
   

2. Verify the installation:

   terraform -v
   

For Linux

1. Download the Linux version of Terraform from the official site.
2. Unzip the downloaded file:

   unzip terraform_*.zip
   

3. Move the binary to /usr/local/bin:

   sudo mv terraform /usr/local/bin/
   

4. Verify the installation:

   terraform -v
   

Step 3: Set Up a Code Editor

• Download and install Visual Studio Code (VSCode).
• Install the Terraform extension for syntax highlighting and code assistance.

Step 4: Understand Terraform Basics

• Terraform uses configuration files (usually with a .tf extension) to describe the infrastructure.
• Resources are the fundamental building blocks in Terraform.
• State files keep track of the resources managed by Terraform.

Step 5: Create Your First Terraform Configuration

1. Create a new directory for your Terraform project.
2. Inside the directory, create a file named main.tf.
3. Add a basic configuration for an AWS resource, such as an EC2 instance:

   provider "aws" {
     region = "us-west-2"
   }
   
   resource "aws_instance" "example" {
     ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
     instance_type = "t2.micro"
   }
   

Step 6: Initialize Your Terraform Project

• Run the following command in your project directory:

  terraform init
  

• This command initializes your working directory and downloads the necessary provider plugins.

Step 7: Plan and Apply Your Configuration

• To see what changes Terraform will make, run:

  terraform plan
  

• To apply the changes and create the resources, run:

  terraform apply
  

• Confirm the action when prompted.

Step 8: Modifying and Managing Resources

• To modify a resource, update your main.tf configuration and rerun terraform apply.
• To delete resources, use:

  terraform destroy
  

Step 9: Utilize Terraform State and Outputs

• Use state commands to manage the current state of your infrastructure.
• Define output variables in your configuration to retrieve information, like instance IDs:

  output "instance_id" {
    value = aws_instance.example.id
  }
  

• Access outputs using:

  terraform output
  

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to set up Terraform to manage your AWS infrastructure. You started by creating an AWS account, installing Terraform, and deploying your first resource. With these skills, you can automate and manage your cloud infrastructure more efficiently. For further learning, explore more Terraform resources, practice with additional configurations, and consider diving deeper into advanced topics like modules and remote state management.