Are you a beginner and don’t know how to install Terraform but want to learn about it? If so, then you’ve landed in the right place. In this article, we’ll briefly discuss the ways to install Terraform on the various operating systems.
Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) tool that lets you create, change, and see infrastructure’s efficiency and safety.
It is only after installing Terraform that users can define and provide a data center infrastructure for different cloud providers using either JSON or Hashicorp Configuration Language (HCL). Alot of operating systems support it.
How to Download & Install Terraform on Windows vs Linux vs Mac?
When interacting with the supported services, Terraform, a command-line tool, uses APIs. Installing Terraform on your computer will enable you to manage your infrastructure in the cloud with all the necessary tools.
Let’s find out how we can install Terraform on Windows, Linux, and Mac.
Steps to install Terraform on Windows
1. Download the File
2. Update Path Environment Variable
3. Verify if You Install Correct Version of Terraform
The output shows the Terraform version that you downloaded and set up on your Windows computer.
Steps to install Terraform on Mac
The Terraform binary can be downloaded and installed on Mac using either the official HashiCorp repository or the zipped file that holds it.
Let’s go over how to install Terraform on Mac.
Steps to install Terraform on Linux
All environments have a binary distribution available. Let's download and install the most recent Linux version of it.
What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Terraform?
Through the use of JSON, the HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL), or another declarative configuration language, users define and deliver the data center infrastructure.
It makes it possible to construct, modify, and upgrade infrastructure quickly and safely. It can oversee both unique in-house solutions and well-known, current service providers. Infrastructure is also provisioned for both public and private cloud platforms.
Advantages
The following are the advantages of Terraform:
Disadvantages
The following are the disadvantages of Terraform:
What Are the Most Common Use Cases of Terraform?
When it comes to writing infrastructure as code, Terraform is a potent tool with a lot of advantages over the alternatives. Let's take a closer look at a few of Terraform's primary use cases.
- 1
Custom Infrastructure as Code
A provider is how Terraform wraps an existing API and transforms it into the declarative syntax of Terraform.
However, the creation of providers is not restricted to open source use cases. Additionally, providers can be created for internal business needs, such as converting current tools or APIs into Terraform.
Any API that allows for CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) operations can be wrapped in declarative code in the Terraform style, giving Terraform a lot of flexibility to support a variety of infrastructure configurations.
- 2
Multi Cloud Deployments
One of Terraform's key differentiators from many of its direct competitors, such as CloudFormation, which only supports one cloud provider, is that it operates simultaneously across all cloud providers.
If they can deploy resources across various cloud providers, software engineers won't need to learn a variety of tools and technologies and can use the same syntax and toolchain.
Multi-cloud support can be advantageous in contract negotiations, allow businesses to benefit from specialized services.
These services might only be provided by one cloud provider, and reduce the risks associated with having all cloud assets dependent on a single company.
- 3
Public Cloud Provisioning
Terraform customers frequently use it for tasks such as public cloud provisioning on one of the major cloud providers. Terraform's primary focus has always been on providing infrastructure as code to these major cloud providers.
Using these public clouds is made possible by Terraform using a feature called a provider. Similar to a plugin, a Terraform provider wraps an existing company's APIs to create declarative Terraform syntax.
How to Get the Most Out of Terraform for Real-World Infrastructure Projects?
While using Terraform in a "Hello World" environment is simple to begin with, using it in real-world systems with multiple resources can be very difficult.
The following are some tips to follow if you want to get the most out of Terraform:
Conclusion
Terraform can transform a complete cloud infrastructure into configuration or code files. These files allow for quick and simple spinning up of the entire infrastructure.
A Hashicorp open source application created it. It is accessible to everyone and can be used to manage a cloud infrastructure that is hosted by any cloud provider.
In this article, we walked readers through the process of how to install Terraform on Windows, Linux, and Mac. We hope this will help you in the installation process.
