Terraform Cheatsheet #

Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code software tool created by HashiCorp. It enables users to define and provision data center infrastructure using a high-level configuration language known as HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL), or optionally JSON. Terraform manages external resources (such as public cloud infrastructure, private cloud infrastructure, network appliances, software as a service, and platform as a service) with a provider, and has over 100 providers for various services.

Basic Commands #

Command/Option	Example	Description
terraform init	`terraform init`	Initialize a Terraform configuration directory
terraform plan	`terraform plan`	Generate and show an execution plan
terraform apply	`terraform apply`	Build or change infrastructure
terraform destroy	`terraform destroy`	Destroy Terraform-managed infrastructure

Working with Configuration Files #

Command/Option	Example	Description
terraform fmt	`terraform fmt`	Reformat your configuration in the standard style
terraform validate	`terraform validate`	Check whether the configuration is valid
terraform show	`terraform show`	Show the current state or a saved plan

Managing State #

Command/Option	Example	Description
terraform state list	`terraform state list`	List resources in the state file
terraform state show	`terraform state show <resource>`	Show the attributes of a single resource in the state file
terraform state rm	`terraform state rm <resource>`	Remove a resource from the state file
terraform state mv	`terraform state mv <source> <destination>`	Move an item in the state file

Provisioning and Outputs #

Command/Option	Example	Description
terraform output	`terraform output`	Read an output from a state file
terraform output -json	`terraform output -json`	Show output in JSON format
terraform taint	`terraform taint <resource>`	Manually mark a resource for recreation
terraform untaint	`terraform untaint <resource>`	Manually unmark a resource as tainted

Resource Targeting #

Command/Option	Example	Description
terraform apply -target	`terraform apply -target=aws_instance.my_instance`	Apply changes to a specific resource
terraform plan -target	`terraform plan -target=aws_instance.my_instance`	Generate a plan for a specific resource

Workspaces #

Command/Option	Example	Description
terraform workspace list	`terraform workspace list`	List available workspaces
terraform workspace new	`terraform workspace new <name>`	Create a new workspace
terraform workspace select	`terraform workspace select <name>`	Switch to another workspace
terraform workspace delete	`terraform workspace delete <name>`	Delete a workspace

Modules #

Command/Option	Example	Description
terraform get	`terraform get`	Download and update modules mentioned in the configuration
terraform module list	`terraform module list`	List all modules in the configuration
terraform module show	`terraform module show`	Show information about a specific module

This cheatsheet covers the most commonly used Terraform commands and options, helping you to manage configurations, state, resources, workspaces, and modules effectively.