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Terraform

Terraform Quickstart

Published by Pearson

Intermediate content levelIntermediate

Learn to automate cloud infrastructure in 4 hours

  • Learn to quickly and efficiently utilize the powerful Terraform program
  • Work with VSCode to maximize the potential of Terraform
  • Become adept at building infrastructure with Terraform on AWS

Terraform is the industry standard tool for automating the creation of infrastructure on the cloud. In this 4-hour course, we will show how to install and use Terraform to build infrastructure on AWS. You will discover what Terraform can do, how it works, and why it is so heavily used in the field.

Dave Prowse, best-selling author and trainer, will walk you through the basics using deep-dive training and a series of labs built to teach you how to configure, test, and deploy infrastructure across AWS. If you are new to Terraform and you need to deploy quickly, this course is for you.

What you’ll learn and how you can apply it

  • Learn how to install and use Terraform as your infrastructure-as-code tool.
  • Build virtual machines and networking on the AWS cloud.
  • Leverage the power of VSCode and the terminal to create powerful Terraform code.

This live event is for you because...

  • You are a beginner user of Terraform
  • You are a cloud engineer, software developer, in sysadmin, devops, and more
  • You are someone who wants to learn how to use Terraform on the job

Prerequisites

  • Basic knowledge of the terminal
  • A working understanding of VSCode or similar IDE
  • Basic familiarity of the AWS console

Course Set-up

  • You’ll need a computer system to run Terraform. As a best practice, it is recommended that attendees use a full Linux virtual machine (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc...) for the labs, preferably with at least 2 CPUs and 4 GB RAM. The instructor will be demonstrating on a Debian virtual machine. (WSL, BusyBox, sand boxes, and other similar tools are not recommended.)
  • VSCode installed (or a similar IDE).
  • Access to this git repository
  • An AWS account with a separate IAM user (for testing purposes).

Note: Attendees might incur a small charge from Amazon when running the AWS-based labs. Attendees can opt-out of running these labs and instead watch the instructor demos.

Recommended Preparation

Recommended Follow-up

Schedule

The time frames are only estimates and may vary according to how the class is progressing.

Segment 1: Introduction & Recommended System Setup (15 minutes)

Segment 2: Terraform Introduction (15 minutes)

  • What is Terraform?
  • How does Terraform work?

Segment 3: Lab 01 – Install Terraform (25 minutes)

  • Describe the various ways to install Terraform
  • Install Terraform

Q&A (5 minutes)

Break (5 minutes)

Segment 4: Lab 02 - Augmenting Terraform and the Help System (15 minutes)

  • Install Terraform Autocomplete
  • Understand the Terraform Help System
  • (Optional) Install the VSCode Terraform extension

Segment 5: How to use Terraform (10 minutes)

  • Write > Plan > Create
  • Terraform commands
  • How to deploy infrastructure
  • Instructor example (time permitting)

Segment 6: Lab 03 – Set up AWS (20 minutes)

  • Install and configure the AWS CLI
  • Create a new Access Key

Q&A (5 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Segment 7: Lab 04 – First Configuration (AWS) (30 minutes)

  • Write, plan, and create basic infrastructure on AWS
  • Analyze the infrastructure and state file
  • Destroy the infrastructure

Segment 8: Lab 05 – AWS Configuration with SSH and Outputs (Part 1) (25 minutes)

  • Create an SSH key pair
  • Add the ability to use the SSH key in Terraform code

Q&A (5 minutes)

Break (5 minutes)

Segment 9: Lab 06 – AWS Configuration with SSH and Outputs (Part 2) (20 minutes)

  • Use outputs to define the IP address and name
  • Use cloud-init to define additional configurations (via SSH)
  • Build and analyze the infrastructure

Segment 10: Play with Terraform! (time permitting) (20 minutes)

  • Attendees can build and test their own configuration and ask questions.
  • Instructor will take questions of a more broad nature.
  • Q&A (5 minutes)

Course wrap-up and next steps (5 minutes)

Your Instructor

  • Dave Prowse

    Dave Prowse has more than 20 years of experience in the IT field. He solves problems for organizations using Linux, infrastructure as code, and many other types of technology. He loves to teach those solutions to others.

    Dave is an advocate of lifelong learning, self-improvement, building confidence, and the sharing of knowledge. You can contact Dave at his website.