In today’s cloud computing and infrastructure management world, efficient provisioning, configuration, and management of resources are paramount. 

In the past, deploying an application on multiple servers was a tedious process. It involved setting up each server individually, configuring their networks, creating route tables, and installing and configuring the necessary software and dependencies. This approach often led to inconsistencies and deployment issues due to varying server configurations. However, with the introduction of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), this process has become more streamlined and efficient.

This is where Terraform, an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) tool, comes into play. Terraform simplifies creating and managing Infrastructure by allowing developers and system administrators to define and provision resources using declarative configuration files.

In this blog, you will learn about the benefits and core workflow of Terraform. Get ready to learn valuable skills to make the most of this tool.

What is Terraform?

Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as a code tool used for efficiently managing, organizing, provisioning, and versioning infrastructures using machine-readable configuration files or code that can be shared and reused. 

Terraform is a declarative tool, which means you only specify the expected state of resources without writing the exact steps required to achieve the desired state of resources. 

• It automatically manages how the Infrastructure has to be modified to achieve the desired result. 
• Terraform then compares the desired state defined in the configurations with the current state of the Infrastructure and determines the necessary actions to achieve the desired state.
• It can manage high-level resources (PaaS, DNS, and SaaS components) and low-level components (like storage, computing, and networking resources).

Terraform allows you to manage Infrastructure across multiple cloud providers like AWS, GCP, Azure, Alibaba Cloud more domain-specific platforms like Dynatrace, Elastic stack, Cloudflare, Datadog, and Kubernetes with a single tool. 

Terraform does this by interacting with the cloud providers’ APIs. It communicates with your desired cloud platform via the API and ensures the set changes are carried out in the target platform. 

What is Terraform Used For?

Terraform is a popular infrastructure as code (IaC) tool that allows you to automate the provisioning, configuration, and deployment of infrastructure components across various cloud providers and on-premises environments. Here are some common use cases for Terraform:

1. Cloud Infrastructure Provisioning: Terraform allows you to provision and manage infrastructure resources on cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and others.
2. Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Deployments: With Terraform, you can create Infrastructure that spans multiple cloud providers or combines cloud and on-premises resources. This enables you to adopt a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud strategy, leveraging the strengths of different platforms while maintaining consistency in infrastructure management.
3. Infrastructure as Code for Applications: Terraform can also manage the deployment and configuration of applications. You can define application-specific resources like container clusters, databases, DNS records, and other services required for your application stack.
4. Infrastructure Lifecycle Management: Terraform provides capabilities for managing the complete lifecycle of your Infrastructure. You can easily create, update, and destroy infrastructure resources as needed, ensuring consistent and reproducible deployments. 
5. Collaboration: Terraform supports collaborative infrastructure management by enabling version control and collaboration workflows. You can use source code repositories, such as Git, to store and manage your Terraform configurations, allowing multiple team members to work on infrastructure changes concurrently and track modifications over time.

What is Terraform Workflow?

As outlined in the Hashicorp documentation, the core Terraform workflow has three steps:

1. Write
2. Plan
3. Apply

Write

The first stage of the Terraform workflow is where you create the configurations that define and modify the infrastructures. This includes simple operations like provisioning a simple compute instance. When writing your configuration code, you can use the default HasiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) or the Cloud Development Kit for Terraform (CDKTF). The CDYKF allows you to define resources using a Terraform-supported programming language like Python, Go, C#, and Typescript.

Plan

Terraform will read the configuration files in this stage and create an execution plan. Terraform analyzes your configuration and compares it to the current state of your Infrastructure to determine what changes are needed. The plan shows you the proposed changes, such as creating new resources, updating existing resources, or destroying resources.

Apply

This is the last stage of the workflow, where Terraform takes the changes specified in your configuration. Terraform will provision and modify the necessary resources to match the desired state. You will be prompted to confirm the changes before they are executed.

Expert Help on Terraform

Terraform is a powerful tool for managing and automating infrastructures on the cloud. 

• It simplifies provisioning and configuration through declarative configuration files, ensuring consistency and reproducibility. 
• Terraform supports multi-cloud and hybrid cloud deployments, enabling organizations to leverage different platforms while maintaining unified management. 

Good knowledge of the tool is also imperative to aid your application development lifecycle. 

Whether you need cloud migration, optimization, or architecture design assistance, our team of experts is here to help. 

Contact us today for personalized guidance and solutions tailored to your business needs. Visit our Terraform Consulting Page to get in touch with our team and unlock the full potential of your cloud environment. Let Foghorn be your trusted partner in navigating the cloud landscape and achieving success in the digital era.