Terraform Commands
Introduction
This is a comprehensive cheat sheet of commonly used Terraform commands with examples.
Terraform is the infrastructure as code tool from HashiCorp. It is a tool for building, changing, and managing infrastructure in a safe, repeatable way.
Installing Terraform
Use the following commands to install Terraform in Windows, MacOS and Linux environments.
# MacOS (using Homebrew):
# First, install the HashiCorp tap
brew tap hashicorp/tap
# Now, install Terraform
brew install hashicorp/tap/terraform
# Windows OS (using Choco)
choco install terraform
Upgrade Terraform
Use the following commands to upgrade Terraform in Windows and macOS.
# Verify the installation by running
terraform --version
# Update to the latest version of Terraform in macOS
brew update
brew upgrade hashicorp/tap/terraform
# Update to the latest version of Terraform in Windows OS
choco upgrade terraform
terraform help
Displays general help information about Terraform, including a list of available commands and options.
terraform -h
# or
terraform --help
# Displays help information for a specific Terraform command
terraform <command> --help
terraform plan --help
terraform workspace --help
terraform init
Initializes a Terraform working directory by downloading and configuring providers.
terraform init
# Forces Terraform to reconfigure the backend, even if it is already initialized
terraform init -reconfigure
# Specifies a backend configuration file to use during initialization
terraform init -backend-config="access_key=$(az storage account keys list --resource-group "rg-terraform-mgmt-poc" --account-name "sttfstatespoc01" --query '[0].value' -o tsv)"
# If you don't want to hold a state lock during backend migration
terraform init -lock=false
# Use this to disable interactive prompts
terraform init -input=false
terraform plan
Generates an execution plan, showing the changes that will be made without actually applying them.
terraform plan
# Saves the generated plan to a file named tfplan for later use
terraform plan -out=tfplan
# Specifies a file containing variable values to be used during planning
terraform plan -out=dev-plan -var-file="./environments/dev-variables.tfvars"
terraform apply
Applies the changes required to reach the desired state defined in the Terraform configuration.
terraform apply
# Automatically approves and applies the changes without requiring manual confirmation
terraform apply -auto-approve
# Use this command to refresh the state for manual changes done from portal directly
terraform apply -refresh-only -var-file="./environments/dev-variables.tfvars"
# Applies the changes with planfilename
terraform apply poc-plan
# Do not hold a state lock during the Terraform apply operation
# Use with caution if other engineers might run concurrent commands against the same workspace
terraform apply -lock=false
terraform destroy
Destroys the Terraform-managed infrastructure, terminating all resources defined in the Terraform configuration.
terraform destroy
# Destroy the infrastructure without having to interactively type 'yes' to the plan
# Useful in automation CI/CD pipelines
terraform destroy --auto-approve
terraform destroy -var-file="./environments/poc-variables.tfvars"
# Destroy an instance of a resource created with for_each
terraform destroy -target="module.appgw.resource[\"key\"]"
terraform validate
Checks if the Terraform configuration files are valid and properly formatted.
terraform fmt
Automatically updates and formats the Terraform configuration files to follow the canonical format.
terraform fmt
# Format files in subdirectories
terraform fmt --recursive
# Display differences between original configuration files and formatting changes
terraform fmt --diff
terraform state
Manages Terraform's state, allowing you to inspect, modify, and manage the state file.
terraform state list
# Remove the specified instance from the state file
# Useful when a resource has been manually deleted outside of Terraform
terraform state rm 'azurerm_logic_app_workflow.logic["1"]'
terraform state rm 'azurerm_resource_group.rg'
terraform output
Displays the outputs defined in the Terraform configuration after applying the changes.
terraform import
Imports existing infrastructure into Terraform state, allowing you to manage resources that were not created by Terraform.
# Use this when the resource is created with for_each
terraform import -var-file="./environments/dev-variables.tfvars" 'azurerm_resource_group.rg["3"]' /subscriptions/342334ec-8a2e-4b7d-a886-e772dc017316/resourceGroups/rg-sitecore-dev
terraform import -var-file="./environments/dev-variables.tfvars" 'azurerm_resource_group.rg' '/subscriptions/dsaf2343-8a2e-4b7d-a886-e772dc017316/resourceGroups/rg-demo'
terraform import azurerm_resource_group.rg
terraform workspace
Manages Terraform workspaces, allowing you to create, select, and delete different named workspaces.
# Creates a new Terraform workspace
terraform workspace new dev
# Selects an existing Terraform workspace
terraform workspace select prod
# Lists all available Terraform workspaces
terraform workspace list
# Shows the currently selected Terraform workspace
terraform workspace show
# Deletes an existing Terraform workspace
terraform workspace delete dev
terraform show
Show the state file in a human-readable format.
terraform providers
Prints a tree of all available providers and their versions.
terraform providers
# Locks the provider versions in the Terraform configuration to ensure reproducible builds
terraform providers lock
terraform providers init
terraform providers migrate
terraform force-unlock
Remove the lock with the specified lock ID from your workspace. Useful when a lock has become 'stuck', usually after an incomplete Terraform run.
terraform graph
Produce a graph in DOT language showing the dependencies between objects in the state file.