Terraform Cheat Sheet

As a developer or system administrator, you may have heard of Terraform, a popular infrastructure as code (IaC) tool that allows you to manage your cloud infrastructure using code. Terraform is a powerful tool that can help you automate your infrastructure deployment and management, but it can also be complex and overwhelming to use at times.

That’s where a Terraform cheat sheet comes in handy. A Terraform cheat sheet is a quick reference guide that provides you with the most commonly used Terraform commands, syntax, and best practices. It can help you save time and avoid mistakes by providing you with a quick and easy way to look up the commands and syntax you need.

This cheat sheet provides a quick reference for Terraform commands, syntax, and best practices.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Configuration
• Commands
• Resources
• Variables
• Modules
• Providers
• Best Practices

Installation

Command	Description
brew install terraform	Install Terraform using Homebrew on macOS
choco install terraform	Install Terraform using Chocolatey on Windows
terraform --version	Check the installed version of Terraform

Configuration

Command	Description
terraform init	Initialize a new Terraform project
terraform plan	Preview the changes to be made by Terraform
terraform apply	Apply the changes to the infrastructure
terraform destroy	Destroy the infrastructure created by Terraform
terraform validate	Validate the syntax of the Terraform configuration
terraform fmt	Format the Terraform configuration for consistency
terraform state	Inspect and modify the Terraform state file

Commands

Command	Description
terraform workspace	Manage multiple workspaces for a Terraform project
terraform import	Import existing infrastructure into Terraform
terraform output	Display the output values of a Terraform configuration
terraform graph	Generate a visual representation of the Terraform dependency graph
terraform taint	Mark a resource as tainted, forcing it to be recreated
terraform untaint	Remove the tainted state from a resource
terraform refresh	Refresh the state of the Terraform-managed infrastructure

Resources

Command	Description
resource	Define a new resource in the Terraform configuration
data	Define a data source to retrieve information from an external system
locals	Define local variables within the Terraform configuration
output	Define output values to be displayed after applying the Terraform configuration

Variables

Command	Description
variable	Define a variable to be used in the Terraform configuration
var	Reference a variable in the Terraform configuration
terraform.tfvars	Define default values for variables in a file named terraform.tfvars
-var-file	Specify a file containing variable values with the -var-file flag

Modules

Command	Description
module	Define a module to encapsulate a set of resources
source	Specify the source of a module, which can be a local directory or a remote repository
terraform get	Download and install modules from the specified sources
terraform init -upgrade	Upgrade the modules used in a Terraform project

Providers

Command	Description
provider	Define a provider to interact with an external system
terraform init	Download and install the required providers for a Terraform project
terraform providers	List the providers used in a Terraform project
terraform state replace-provider	Replace the provider used by a resource in the Terraform state file

Best Practices

• Use version control to manage Terraform configurations and state files.
• Use modules to encapsulate reusable sets of resources.
• Use variables to parameterize Terraform configurations.
• Use data sources to retrieve information from external systems.
• Use output values to display important information after applying a Terraform configuration.
• Use the terraform plan command to preview changes before applying them.
• Use the terraform destroy command to clean up resources when they are no longer needed.
• Use the terraform fmt command to ensure consistent formatting of Terraform configurations.
• Use the terraform validate command to check the syntax of Terraform configurations.
• Use the terraform state command to inspect and modify the Terraform state file.

Reference:

https://terraform-docs.io/