Terraform Infrastructure

Terraform Infrastructure-as-Code

A comprehensive skill for building, managing, and scaling cloud infrastructure using Terraform. Master declarative infrastructure, multi-cloud deployments, state management, module composition, and enterprise-grade patterns for AWS, Azure, GCP, and other providers.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Provisioning cloud infrastructure across AWS, Azure, GCP, or multi-cloud environments
• Building reusable infrastructure modules for teams and organizations
• Managing infrastructure state across multiple environments (dev, staging, production)
• Implementing infrastructure as code (IaC) best practices and governance
• Migrating from manual infrastructure to automated, version-controlled deployments
• Creating repeatable, testable infrastructure configurations
• Orchestrating complex multi-tier application architectures
• Managing Kubernetes clusters, databases, networks, and compute resources
• Implementing disaster recovery and multi-region deployments
• Collaborating on infrastructure changes with teams using GitOps workflows

Core Concepts

Infrastructure as Code Philosophy

Terraform enables declarative infrastructure management:

• Declarative Configuration: Define desired state, Terraform handles execution
• Immutable Infrastructure: Replace rather than modify infrastructure
• Version Control: Track infrastructure changes like application code
• Plan Before Apply: Preview changes before execution
• Resource Graph: Automatic dependency resolution and parallel execution
• State Management: Track real-world resources and their configuration

Key Terraform Components

1. Providers: Plugins for infrastructure platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, etc.)
2. Resources: Infrastructure objects (VMs, networks, databases, storage)
3. Data Sources: Query existing infrastructure or external data
4. Variables: Parameterize configurations for reusability
5. Outputs: Export values for consumption by other configurations
6. Modules: Reusable, composable infrastructure components
7. State: JSON file tracking managed infrastructure
8. Workspaces: Manage multiple instances of infrastructure

Terraform Workflow

Write → Init → Plan → Apply → Destroy
  ↓       ↓       ↓       ↓       ↓
 .tf    Download Review  Execute Remove
files   providers changes changes resources

Terraform Language (HCL)

Basic Syntax

HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) is declarative and human-readable:

# Block structure
block_type "block_label" "block_name" {
  argument_name = argument_value

  nested_block {
    nested_argument = value
  }
}

# Example: EC2 instance resource
resource "aws_instance" "web_server" {
  ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
  instance_type = "t3.micro"

  tags = {
    Name = "WebServer"
    Environment = "production"
  }
}

Variables and Types

Terraform supports rich type system:

# String variable
variable "region" {
  type        = string
  description = "AWS region for resources"
  default     = "us-east-1"
}

# Number variable
variable "instance_count" {
  type    = number
  default = 3
}

# Boolean variable
variable "enable_monitoring" {
  type    = bool
  default = true
}

# List variable
variable "availability_zones" {
  type    = list(string)
  default = ["us-east-1a", "us-east-1b", "us-east-1c"]
}

# Map variable
variable "instance_tags" {
  type = map(string)
  default = {
    Environment = "production"
    Project     = "web-app"
  }
}

# Object variable
variable "database_config" {
  type = object({
    engine         = string
    engine_version = string
    instance_class = string
    allocated_storage = number
  })
  default = {
    engine         = "postgres"
    engine_version = "13.7"
    instance_class = "db.t3.micro"
    allocated_storage = 20
  }
}

# Set variable
variable "allowed_cidr_blocks" {
  type = set(string)
  default = ["10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12"]
}

# Tuple variable
variable "server_config" {
  type = tuple([string, number, bool])
  default = ["t3.micro", 2, true]
}

Variable Validation

Add custom validation rules:

variable "instance_type" {
  type        = string
  description = "EC2 instance type"

  validation {
    condition     = contains(["t3.micro", "t3.small", "t3.medium"], var.instance_type)
    error_message = "Instance type must be t3.micro, t3.small, or t3.medium."
  }
}

variable "environment" {
  type = string

  validation {
    condition     = can(regex("^(dev|staging|prod)$", var.environment))
    error_message = "Environment must be dev, staging, or prod."
  }
}

variable "cidr_block" {
  type = string

  validation {
    condition     = can(cidrhost(var.cidr_block, 0))
    error_message = "Must be a valid IPv4 CIDR block."
  }
}

Locals and Expressions

Locals compute values once and reuse them:

locals {
  # Simple local
  environment = terraform.workspace

  # Computed local
  common_tags = {
    Environment = local.environment
    ManagedBy   = "Terraform"
    Project     = var.project_name
  }

  # Conditional local
  instance_count = var.environment == "prod" ? 5 : 2

  # List manipulation
  all_subnets = concat(var.public_subnets, var.private_subnets)

  # Map merging
  merged_tags = merge(
    local.common_tags,
    var.additional_tags
  )

  # String interpolation
  bucket_name = "${var.project_name}-${local.environment}-data"

  # For expression
  subnet_ids = [for subnet in aws_subnet.private : subnet.id]

  # For expression with filtering
  prod_instances = [
    for instance in aws_instance.app :
    instance.id if instance.tags["Environment"] == "prod"
  ]

  # Map transformation
  instance_map = {
    for idx, instance in aws_instance.app :
    instance.tags["Name"] => instance.id
  }
}

Functions

Terraform provides built-in functions:

# String functions
upper("hello")                    # "HELLO"
lower("WORLD")                    # "world"
title("hello world")              # "Hello World"
trim("  spaces  ")                # "spaces"
trimprefix("prefix-value", "prefix-") # "value"
format("Server %03d", 1)          # "Server 001"
join("-", ["a", "b", "c"])        # "a-b-c"
split("-", "a-b-c")               # ["a", "b", "c"]
substr("hello", 0, 3)             # "hel"
replace("hello", "l", "r")        # "herro"

# Numeric functions
max(5, 12, 9)                     # 12
min(5, 12, 9)                     # 5
ceil(5.1)                         # 6
floor(5.9)                        # 5
parseint("100", 10)               # 100

# Collection functions
length([1, 2, 3])                 # 3
element(["a", "b", "c"], 1)       # "b"
concat([1, 2], [3, 4])            # [1, 2, 3, 4]
contains(["a", "b"], "a")         # true
distinct([1, 2, 2, 3])            # [1, 2, 3]
flatten([[1, 2], [3, 4]])         # [1, 2, 3, 4]
keys({a = 1, b = 2})              # ["a", "b"]
values({a = 1, b = 2})            # [1, 2]
lookup({a = 1, b = 2}, "a", 0)    # 1
merge({a = 1}, {b = 2})           # {a = 1, b = 2}
reverse([1, 2, 3])                # [3, 2, 1]
slice([1, 2, 3, 4], 1, 3)         # [2, 3]
sort(["c", "a", "b"])             # ["a", "b", "c"]

# Encoding functions
base64encode("hello")             # "aGVsbG8="
base64decode("aGVsbG8=")          # "hello"
jsonencode({key = "value"})       # "{\"key\":\"value\"}"
jsondecode("{\"key\":\"value\"}")  # {key = "value"}
yamlencode({key = "value"})       # "key: value\n"
yamldecode("key: value")          # {key = "value"}

# Filesystem functions
file("path/to/file.txt")          # Read file content
templatefile("template.tpl", {    # Render template
  var1 = "value1"
})

# Date/time functions
timestamp()                       # "2024-01-15T12:30:45Z"
formatdate("DD MMM YYYY", timestamp()) # "15 Jan 2024"

# Network functions
cidrhost("10.0.0.0/24", 5)        # "10.0.0.5"
cidrnetmask("10.0.0.0/24")        # "255.255.255.0"
cidrsubnet("10.0.0.0/16", 8, 2)   # "10.0.2.0/24"