Terraform Basic Commands: A Quick Guide

Terraform is an open-source tool that allows you to manage infrastructure as code across various cloud providers. Here’s a brief overview of the essential Terraform commands every DevOps engineer should know:

1. terraform init

• Purpose: Initializes a Terraform working directory by downloading necessary plugins and setting up the backend.
• Usage: terraform init

2. terraform fmt

• Purpose: Formats Terraform configuration files for consistency.
• Usage: terraform fmt

3. terraform validate

• Purpose: Validates the syntax and consistency of your configuration files.
• Usage: terraform validate

4. terraform plan

• Purpose: Creates an execution plan, showing the changes Terraform will make to your infrastructure.
• Usage: terraform plan

5. terraform apply

• Purpose: Applies the changes required to reach the desired state of the configuration.
• Usage: terraform apply

6. terraform destroy

• Purpose: Destroys all the resources defined in your configuration, effectively tearing down your infrastructure.
• Usage: terraform destroy

7. terraform show

• Purpose: Displays the current state or details of a saved plan.
• Usage: terraform show

8. terraform state

• Purpose: Manages Terraform’s state, including listing and modifying resources.
• Usage: terraform state <subcommand>

9. terraform refresh

• Purpose: Updates the state file with the real infrastructure’s current state.
• Usage: terraform refresh

10. terraform import

• Purpose: Imports existing resources into Terraform's state.
• Usage: terraform import <resource_type>.<resource_name> <resource_id>

11. terraform output

• Purpose: Retrieves the value of output variables from your configuration.
• Usage: terraform output

12. terraform workspace

• Purpose: Manages multiple workspaces, allowing you to handle different environments.
• Usage: terraform workspace <subcommand>

These commands form the core of Terraform operations, enabling you to efficiently manage your cloud infrastructure with confidence.