Getting Started with Terraform

Terraform is a declarative Infrastructure as Code tool that helps you provision and manage infrastructure consistently across environments. It is a strong fit when you want reusable workflows, provider-based automation, and a common language across cloud platforms.

Why start with Terraform?

• Terraform uses a consistent workflow across providers and environments.
• It gives you a clear execution plan before infrastructure changes are applied.
• It works well for teams that want reusable modules and multi-environment automation.

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What is Terraform?

Terraform is HashiCorp's Infrastructure as Code tool for defining and provisioning infrastructure through configuration files. It offers:

• Declarative configuration: Describe the desired state instead of scripting every step
• Execution plans: Review what will change before applying it
• Provider ecosystem: Manage Azure, AWS, GitHub, Kubernetes, and more
• Reusable modules: Standardize common infrastructure patterns across teams

With Terraform, you can provision, update, and manage infrastructure in a repeatable and version-controlled way.

When to use Terraform

Terraform is a good default when you want a provider-based workflow, reusable modules, and a consistent deployment model across multiple environments or multiple platforms.

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Prerequisites

To get started with Terraform on Azure, you need:

• Azure subscription with permission to create resources
• Terraform CLI installed locally
• Azure CLI for authentication to Azure
• Visual Studio Code
• Terraform VS Code extension

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Step 1: Install Terraform CLI

Download and install Terraform from the official Terraform installation guide.

Windows macOS Linux

winget install --exact Hashicorp.Terraform

brew tap hashicorp/tap
brew install hashicorp/tap/terraform

wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | \
    gpg --dearmor | \
    sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install terraform

Verify installation:

terraform version

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Step 2: Install Azure CLI

Terraform can authenticate to Azure in several ways. For local development, Azure CLI authentication is the simplest path.

Windows macOS Linux

winget install --exact --id Microsoft.AzureCLI

brew update
brew install azure-cli

curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

Verify installation:

az --version

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Step 3: Set Up Visual Studio Code

1. Download and install VS Code
2. Open VS Code
3. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
4. Search for HashiCorp Terraform and install the Terraform extension

Features:

• Syntax highlighting
• IntelliSense and autocompletion
• Formatting support
• Linting and validation assistance

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Step 4: Create Your First Terraform File

Create a new file named main.tf and add the following example:

terraform {
    required_version = ">= 1.5.0"

    required_providers {
        azurerm = {
            source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
            version = "~> 4.0"
        }
    }
}

provider "azurerm" {
    features {}
}

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "demo" {
    name     = "rg-terraform-demo"
    location = "westeurope"
}

This example uses the AzureRM provider to create a resource group, which is a good first Terraform deployment because the configuration is small, readable, and easy to verify.

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Step 5: Initialize the Working Directory

Before Terraform can plan or apply changes, initialize the directory so it can download the required provider plugins:

terraform init

What terraform init does

Initialization prepares the working directory, downloads the AzureRM provider, and creates the .terraform metadata used for future commands.

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Step 6: Deploy with Terraform

Sign in to Azure, review the execution plan, and apply the configuration:

az login
terraform plan
terraform apply

Review the plan before applying

terraform plan shows the resources Terraform intends to create, update, or destroy. Review it carefully before running terraform apply, especially in shared or production subscriptions.

Common first-run issues

• Make sure you are signed into the correct Azure subscription.
• Confirm your account has permission to create Azure resources.
• If the AzureRM provider version changes, rerun terraform init.
• If your working directory already has state from a previous experiment, inspect terraform.tfstate before applying new changes.

What to Do Next

Once this deployment works, the next logical steps are:

1. Add input variables for names, tags, and locations.
2. Split reusable infrastructure into Terraform modules.
3. Run terraform fmt and terraform validate before planning.
4. Store state securely and avoid keeping production state only on a local machine.

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Additional Resources

• Terraform Documentation
• AzureRM Provider Documentation
• Terraform Language Documentation
• Terraform VS Code Extension
• Terraform Registry

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Congratulations! You are now ready to start building Azure infrastructure with Terraform in VS Code.