Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC)

Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) tool developed by HashiCorp. It allows you to define and provision infrastructure resources in a declarative and version-controlled manner. With Terraform, you can automate the deployment and management of infrastructure across various cloud providers and on-premises environments.

Key features and concepts of Terraform include:

Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform enables you to define your infrastructure resources, such as virtual machines, networks, storage, and more, using a simple and human-readable configuration language. This allows you to treat your infrastructure as code and version control it alongside your application code.

Declarative Syntax: Terraform uses a declarative syntax, where you describe the desired state of your infrastructure rather than specifying the detailed steps to achieve that state. Terraform automatically determines and executes the necessary actions to bring your infrastructure into the desired state.

Provider-agnostic: Terraform supports multiple cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and many others. It also supports on-premises infrastructure providers. This allows you to manage your infrastructure consistently across different platforms.

Resource Graph: Terraform builds a dependency graph of your infrastructure resources, understanding the relationships and dependencies between them. It then creates or modifies resources in the correct order based on this graph.

Plan and Apply: Terraform provides a "plan" phase, where it generates an execution plan that shows the changes it will make to your infrastructure. This allows you to review and validate the changes before applying them. The "apply" phase then applies the changes to your infrastructure, making the necessary additions, updates, or deletions.

State Management: Terraform maintains a state file that stores the current state of your infrastructure. This file keeps track of the resources created and their configurations. The state file is used for resource management, change detection, and to prevent accidental modifications or deletions.

Collaboration and Automation: Terraform supports collaboration by allowing multiple team members to work on the same infrastructure codebase. It also integrates with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, enabling automated infrastructure provisioning and updates.

Overall, Terraform simplifies and automates infrastructure provisioning, making it easier to manage and scale your infrastructure resources efficiently. It promotes infrastructure as code principles, improves reproducibility, and provides a unified workflow across different cloud providers and environments.