You now have enough Terraform knowledge to create useful configurations, but the examples so far have used hard-coded values. Terraform configurations can include variables to make your configuration more dynamic and flexible.
»Prerequisites
After following the other tutorials in this collection, you will have a
directory named learn-terraform-aws-instance with the following configuration
in a file called main.tf.
terraform {
required_providers {
aws = {
source = "hashicorp/aws"
version = "~> 3.27"
}
}
}
provider "aws" {
profile = "default"
region = "us-west-2"
}
resource "aws_instance" "app_server" {
ami = "ami-08d70e59c07c61a3a"
instance_type = "t2.micro"
tags = {
Name = "ExampleAppServerInstance"
}
}
Ensure that your configuration matches this, and that you have run terraform init
in the learn-terraform-aws-instance directory.
»Set the instance name with a variable
The configuration includes a number of hard-coded values. Terraform variables allow you to write configuration that is flexible and easier to re-use.
Add a variable to define the instance name.
Create a new file called variables.tf with a block defining a new
instance_name variable.
variable "instance_name" {
description = "Value of the Name tag for the EC2 instance"
type = string
default = "ExampleAppServerInstance"
}
Note: Terraform loads all files in the current directory ending in .tf,
so you can name your configuration files however you choose.
In main.tf, update the aws_instance resource block to use the new variable.
resource "aws_instance" "app_server" {
ami = "ami-08d70e59c07c61a3a"
instance_type = "t2.micro"
tags = {
- Name = "ExampleAppServerInstance"
+ Name = var.instance_name
}
}
Apply the configuration. Respond to the confirmation prompt with a yes.
$ terraform apply
An execution plan has been generated and is shown below.
Resource actions are indicated with the following symbols:
+ create
Terraform will perform the following actions:
# aws_instance.app_server will be created
+ resource "aws_instance" "app_server" {
+ ami = "ami-08d70e59c07c61a3a"
+ arn = (known after apply)
##...
Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.
Do you want to perform these actions?
Terraform will perform the actions described above.
Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve.
Enter a value: yes
aws_instance.app_server: Creating...
aws_instance.app_server: Still creating... [10s elapsed]
aws_instance.app_server: Still creating... [20s elapsed]
aws_instance.app_server: Still creating... [30s elapsed]
aws_instance.app_server: Still creating... [40s elapsed]
aws_instance.app_server: Creation complete after 50s [id=i-0bf954919ed765de1]
Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.
Now apply the configuration again. Terraform will update the instance with
the new Name tag with the value of the instance_type variable using the
-var flag. Respond to the confirmation prompt with yes.
$ terraform apply -var 'instance_name=YetAnotherName'
aws_instance.app_server: Refreshing state... [id=i-0bf954919ed765de1]
An execution plan has been generated and is shown below.
Resource actions are indicated with the following symbols:
~ update in-place
Terraform will perform the following actions:
# aws_instance.app_server will be updated in-place
~ resource "aws_instance" "app_server" {
id = "i-0bf954919ed765de1"
~ tags = {
~ "Name" = "ExampleAppServerInstance" -> "YetAnotherName"
}
# (26 unchanged attributes hidden)
# (4 unchanged blocks hidden)
}
Plan: 0 to add, 1 to change, 0 to destroy.
Do you want to perform these actions?
Terraform will perform the actions described above.
Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve.
Enter a value: yes
aws_instance.app_server: Modifying... [id=i-0bf954919ed765de1]
aws_instance.app_server: Modifications complete after 7s [id=i-0bf954919ed765de1]
Apply complete! Resources: 0 added, 1 changed, 0 destroyed.
Setting variables via the command-line will not save the new value. Terraform supports many ways to use and set variables so you can avoid having to enter them repeatedly as you execute commands. To learn more, follow our in-depth tutorial, Customize Terraform Configuration with Variables.