#terraform-tool

okay, got that all working

how come terraform isn't prompting on creating

but only on destroy?

that makes no sense

value = "Instances: ${aws_instance.web.id}" with count gives me Error running plan: Resource 'aws_instance.live-web' not found for variable 'aws_instance.live-web.id'

but using the splat as the example uses gives me

* output 'address': multi-variable must be in a slice

Hello, what values can aws_network_acl resource take for protocol = ALL ? thanks

is anyone awake :)

I just started diving into terraform but even now when i look at the frontpage there is something very profound that i can’t understand

it’s the why you write it “infrastructure as code” when all there is is configuration.

my first impression when i came to know terraform was that infrastructure is defined “with” code.

“Infrastructure as Code: Infrastructure is described using a high-level configuration syntax. This allows a blueprint of your datacenter to be versioned and treated as you would any other code. Additionally, infrastructure can be shared and re-used.”

can’t undestand the relationship. anyway i know this is just a “minor detail” but I would appreciate if someone could enlighten me here

call it “high level configuration syntax”, call it “template-based syntax” or whatever. the “creation” of infrastructure doesn’t differ much from say ansible (im still noob here on terraform, no flames intended). it appears to be more powerful for describing infrastructure configuration, but in terms of “what language is used for defining” stuff it doesn’t differ much when i compare both.

zerokode: terraform configs are a form of code, and there are quite a few powerful features in the interpolation syntax that allow the configuration to to reach far beyond simple static configuration files.

zerokode: I would suggest you google devops or "infrastrucure as code" for some basic ideas of the devops concepts

yes i think i know what you mean, but i wouldn’t call it “code”

it looks to me something that could be defined by a template language (elegancy put appart)

thanks __number5__

__number5__: pardon me my ignorance but, i see chef and puppet as “infrastructure as code” but i can’t see terraform as such

one simple example. i can’t say use a counter that is not 0-based

just to say that i cannot even use simple arithmetic calculations or whatever code to configure my infrastructure

because terraform is using its own configuration language, it will always be more limited than using a real programming language to configure infrastructure “as code"

of course the configuration language is tailored at simplifying “infrustracture configuration”, something that would be more compilcated with a programming language

but still, i don’t find it “as code” maybe im too stupid to nderstand the concept

@zerokode could you take a look at https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/int...

configuration can be seen as "declarative language", and provided that it don't need interaction, it can be automated

even you build your tool all by code, e.g. python, you'll need to generate some configs at some point, e.g. for nginx/etc.

rmenn: yeah i know this. seriously i dunt know how more powerful is this than a templating engine

you can achieve the exact same thing with a templating engine. call it interpolation or not

templating is all about that

__number5__: yeah, i think the problem is i never heard “infrastructure as code” before terraform. cuz all i read now says

it is basically about versioning infrastructure configuration as if it were code

testable, blabla

i think i took the meaning of “code” too deeply. sorry

ok, all this apart, is there any resource you would recommend for examples on how to properly use terraform and how configuration is generally structured?

try looking this repo, i think its well structured

thank you rmenn . and sorry for the delay

does anyone know if .backup files should be under version control ?

your version control supposed to be your backup, right?

erm...

i guess so?

i mean there’s nothing mentioned about it anywhere

the fact that .tfstate needs to be commited is already something

now that a .tfstate.backup also needs to be commited

is an ever greater deal

i suppose it doesn’t need but i dunno that’s why i am asking

the tfstate backup is only if your state file gets corrupted, i have seen scenarios where the resource is to be provisioned but fails and it also takes the state file along with it for a toss

rmenn: does that actually mean the backup file only makes sense during the lifetime of an apply operation?

or, in other words, that it shouldn’t need to be version controlled

honestly i dont put it in version control

thanks. yeah i confirmed that too here on an internal repo definit it on .gitignore

rmenn: and od you know about tfvars? apparently it is defined in the .gitignore file i found here too

and i happen to have seen another git repo that actually has .tfvars commited

i use tfvars to separate out environments, different tfvars for each environment

so when i need to chage something or bring another environment for testing i just change things in the tfvars

oh. how do you define “i want to use this environment” or “i want to use this other environment"

how do you switch if they are in the same directory ?

i thought -var-file would be simpler to use

and explicit

yes thats what i use

i see. thanks!

-var-file as per environment, <environment>.tfvars

exactly

very good

im assuming i could even use several -var-file

for combining stuff