Implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform: Applying and Managing Your Infrastructure with Terraform

Welcome to our tutorial series, "Implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform: A Comprehensive Tutorial". After penning down your first Terraform configuration, it's time to bring it to life by creating natural resources on your cloud provider platform. This blog post will guide you through applying and managing your infrastructure using Terraform.

Terraform revolves around two primary commands: terraform init, terraform plan, and terraform apply. Let's understand each of them in detail.

1. Initialize Your Terraform Working Directory -

terraform init

The first command you'll run after writing a new Terraform configuration is the terraform init command, which initialises various local settings and data subsequent orders use.

You can just navigate to the directory that contains your main.tf file and run the following command:

terraform init        

This command downloads the AWS provider plugin so Terraform can interact with AWS to create resources.

• Plan Your Infrastructure -

terraform plan

Before making any changes to your infrastructure, it's a good practice to check the changes Terraform will make using the terraform plan command. This command creates an execution plan, letting you see what Terraform will do before it does it.

Run the following command:

terraform plan        

The output of this command will show you what resources Terraform will create.

• Apply Your Configuration -

terraform apply

Once you are satisfied with the execution plan, the terraform apply command is used to apply the changes required to reach the desired state of the configuration.

Run the following command:

terraform apply        

Terraform will ask for your confirmation before proceeding. Type yes to allow Terraform to make changes.

This command interacts with AWS to create the instance you specified in your primary.tf file. When done, it will print out the properties of the instance it made.

• Manage Your Infrastructure

Once your infrastructure is in place, you can modify your Terraform configuration, repeat the plan, and apply steps to update your infrastructure.

You can use the terraform destroy command to destroy your infrastructure when you no longer need it. It's similar to terraform apply but destroys all the resources specified in your Terraform configuration.

Congratulations, you've successfully used Terraform to create and manage your first piece of infrastructure!

In our upcoming posts, we'll delve deeper into more complex Terraform configurations and best practices for managing your infrastructure. Stay tuned!