7 Terraform tips for fast and secure infrastructure

Terraform is a tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently. Terraform can manage existing and popular service providers as well as custom in-house solutions.

Terraform automates the tedious task of manually making changes across complex infrastructure while maintaining safety and preventing drift. Your team can use the same workflow for both serverless application development and operations tasks like rollbacks and blue/green deployments, resulting in greater efficiency and fewer mistakes.

Don’t Repeat Yourself(DRY)

The principle of “Don’t Repeat Yourself” is so important. When applied to software development, it means that you should avoid writing the same code over and over again. Instead, you should write code that can be reused in multiple places.

One of the main benefits of using Terraform is that it enables you to define your infrastructure as code. This means that you can manage your Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using the same processes and tools that you use for your application code.

This also means that you should strive to keep your Terraform code DRY. Just like with your application code, duplicating code in your Terraform code can lead to errors and inconsistencies. When possible, use variables, modules, and other abstractions to avoid duplication.

So next time you’re about to copy and paste some code, ask yourself if there’s a better way to do it. Chances are, there is. And that’s the beauty of DRY: it never gets old.

Keep Your Code Clean and Organized

As your Terraform codebase grows, it’s important to keep it clean and organized. This will help you and others who work on the codebase to understand it and make changes as needed.

There are a few ways to keep your Terraform code clean and organized:

• Use a consistent naming convention for your resources.
• Group related resources together using modules.
• Document your code using comments.

Avoid Fragile Resources

Fragile resources are those that are difficult or impossible to change without causing problems. For example, a database that is tightly coupled to an application may be fragile if you need to make changes to the database without affecting the application.

When possible, avoid creating fragile resources. If you do need to create them, be sure to document them so that others are aware of the potential risks.

Automate Everything

Terraform can help you automate the provisioning and management of your infrastructure. This can save you a lot of time and effort, and it can also help to ensure that your infrastructure is consistent and compliant with your policies.

There are a few ways to automate your Terraform workflow:

• Use Terraform’s built-in automation features, such as remote state management and input variables.
• Use third-party tools, such as Terraform Enterprise, to manage your Terraform workflow.
• Use scripts or other automation tooling to automate your Terraform workflow.

Terraform can be used to manage multiple environments, making it easy to switch between different configurations. As a result, Terraform can help you to save time and improve your productivity.

Review Changes Before Applying Them

Before applying any changes to your infrastructure, it’s important to review them first. This will help you to catch any errors or inconsistencies before they cause problems.

There are a few ways to review your Terraform changes:

• Use Terraform’s built-in diff feature to see what changes will be made when you apply them.
• Use a third-party tool, such as Terragrunt, to automate the review of your Terraform changes.
• Use a script or other automation tooling to review your Terraform changes.

Test Your Code Before Applying It

In addition to reviewing your code, it’s also a good idea to test it before applying it. This will help you catch any errors or problems that could occur when you apply the changes.

There are a few ways to test your Terraform code:

• Use Terraform’s built-in plan command to generate a dry run of the changes.
• Use a third-party tool, such as Terratest, to automate the testing of your Terraform code.
• Use a script or other automation tooling to test your Terraform code.

Keep Your Infrastructure up to Date

Just like with your application code, it’s important to keep your infrastructure up to date. This includes updating your Terraform code as new versions are released. Keeping your infrastructure up to date will help ensure that it remains compliant with your policies and that you have the latest security fixes.

There are a few ways to keep your infrastructure up to date:

• Use Terraform’s built-in update command to update your resources to the latest versions.
• Use a third-party tool, such as Terragrunt, to automate the updating of your infrastructure.
• Use a script or other automation tooling to update your infrastructure.

Following these best practices will help you get the most out of Terraform and avoid common mistakes. By keeping your code clean and organized, automating everything, and Reviewing and testing your changes before applying them, you can save time and effort while ensuring that your infrastructure is reliable and compliant.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Terraform is a powerful tool for managing infrastructure as code. It is easy to use and can help you manage your infrastructure more effectively. However, it is important to understand the basics of how it works before using it. Otherwise, you may find yourself in over your head very quickly. But if you take the time to learn the basics, Hashicorp Terraform can be a valuable addition to your toolkit.