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Terraform

Terraform is a powerful, open-source infrastructure as code (IAC) tool that enables you to build, change, and version infrastructure safely and efficiently. It manages external resources (such as public cloud infrastructure, private cloud infrastructure, network appliances, software as a service, and more) with a human-readable configuration language called HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL), or optionally JSON. With Terraform, you can manage infrastructure across multiple cloud providers using a single workflow, making it a key tool in the domain of cloud engineering and platform engineering.

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Terraform is developed and maintained by HashiCorp, a company that provides a suite of infrastructure automation products. Learn more about Terraform on the official website.

Key Concepts of Terraform​

  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform allows you to define infrastructure through code to increase automation and reduce manual processes, improving both scalability and reliability of infrastructure.
  • Execution Plans: Terraform generates an execution plan. This shows you what it will do before it makes any changes, allowing you to review and approve the proposed actions.
  • Resource Graph: Terraform builds a graph of all your resources, which enables it to identify the dependencies between resources and parallelize the creation and destruction of non-dependent resources.
  • Change Automation: With minimal human interaction, Terraform can execute the planned actions in a safe and predictable manner, reducing human errors.

Best Practices for Platform Engineering with Terraform​

Platform Engineering involves creating a platform that abstracts complex infrastructure details for developers, enabling them to deploy applications quickly and reliably. Here are some Terraform tips that align well with platform engineering goals:

  1. Modularize your Terraform Code: Break down your Terraform code into modules for reusable pieces such as network setups, compute instances, etc. This enhances code reuse, makes the codebase easier to manage, and allows different teams to work on separate components with ease.

  2. Use Remote State Backends: Terraform stores state about your managed infrastructure and configuration. For teams, it's crucial to use remote state backends like AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage. This allows team members to share state and lock the state to prevent conflicts.

  3. Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Policies: Use policy as code frameworks (like OPA or Sentinel) with Terraform to enforce guidelines and compliance standards across your infrastructure, ensuring that all deployed resources comply with organizational and regulatory standards.

  4. Automate Terraform Workflows: Integrate Terraform with CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment of infrastructure changes. This ensures that changes are consistently applied and enables rapid deployment and rollback if needed.

  5. Version Pinning for Providers and Modules: To ensure consistency and prevent unexpected changes, pin the versions of Terraform providers and modules. This helps in avoiding breaking changes and ensures that the infrastructure is deployed with known, stable versions.

  6. Review and Refactor Regularly: Infrastructure needs evolve over time, and so should your Terraform code. Regularly review and refactor your Terraform configurations to optimize resource usage, incorporate new Terraform features, and improve maintainability.

  7. Secure Secrets: Never hard-code sensitive information in your Terraform configurations. Use secret management tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or environment variables, and reference these in your Terraform code.

  8. Plan for Disaster Recovery: Use Terraform to define disaster recovery strategies. This involves setting up backup mechanisms, replication across regions, and quick recovery processes to minimize downtime in case of a disaster.

By following these practices, you can leverage Terraform effectively within the realm of platform engineering, creating a robust, scalable, and maintainable infrastructure that accelerates development cycles and improves operational efficiency.

Example Terraform Configuration​

Here's an example of a simple Terraform configuration that creates an AWS EC2 instance:

provider "aws" {
  region = "us-west-2"
}

resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
}

In this example, the provider block configures the AWS provider, and the resource block creates an EC2 instance. This is a simple example, but Terraform can be used to manage a wide variety of resources across multiple cloud providers.