Mastering IaC using Terraform

Module 1: Introduction to IaC and Terraform

Topics:

• What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?
• Why use Terraform?
• Terraform architecture: Core, Providers, State
• Terraform vs other IaC tools

Hands-on:

• Install Terraform CLI
• Install AWS CLI and Azure CLI
• Set up VS Code with Terraform extensions

Module 2: Terraform Fundamentals

Topics:

• HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) basics
• Terraform file structure: main.tf, variables.tf, outputs.tf
• Providers, resources, and data sources
• Workflow: init, plan, apply, destroy

Hands-on:

• Create a very simple “hello Terraform” resource (e.g., a null resource or a small tag-only resource)
• Run the core workflow
• Practice formatting and validation

Module 3: AWS Terraform Essentials

Topics:

• AWS provider and authentication (IAM, access keys, profiles)
• AWS Regions and availability zones
• VPC, subnets, internet gateway, route tables
• Security groups and EC2 basics
• Resource tagging and output

Hands-on:

• Deploy VPC, subnets, security group, and EC2 instance
• Output instance IP and connection details
• Destroy and recreate infrastructure

Module 4: Azure Terraform Essentials

Topics:

• Azure provider and authentication (Service Principal, Azure CLI)
• Azure resource groups and subscriptions
• Virtual network, subnets, NSG
• Azure VM basics
• Resource tagging and output

Hands-on:

• Deploy resource group, VNet, subnet, NSG, and Linux VM
• Output VM IP and connection details
• Clean up resources

Module 5: Variables, Outputs, and Data Sources

Topics:

• Input variables and validation
• Variable files (.tfvars)
• Sensitive variables
• Outputs and data sources
• Expressions, functions, and conditionals

Hands-on:

• Parameterize AWS and Azure projects
• Use variable files for multi-environment
• Reference existing resources with data sources

Module 6: State Management

Topics:

• Terraform state purpose
• Local vs remote state
• State locking and consistency
• Remote backends: AWS S3 + DynamoDB, Azure Storage
• State commands and troubleshooting

Hands-on:

• Migrate local state to S3 + DynamoDB (AWS)
• Migrate local state to Azure Storage (Azure)
• Simulate and resolve state drift

Module 7: Modules and Reusability

Topics:

• What are modules?
• Local vs registry modules
• Module structure and usage
• Passing variables and outputs

Hands-on:

• Create modules for networking and compute in AWS and Azure
• Call modules from root configuration
• Version and document modules

Module 8: Advanced AWS & Azure Resources

Topics:

• AWS: S3, ALB, RDS
• Azure: Storage Account, Load Balancer, Azure DB for MySQL
• Provider aliases for multi-region/account

Hands-on:

• Extend AWS stack with ALB, S3, RDS
• Extend Azure stack with Load Balancer, Storage, Azure DB
• Compare AWS and Azure resource syntax

Module 9: Change Management and Automation

Topics:

• Safe infrastructure changes
• Lifecycle meta-arguments
• Importing resources
• Intro to CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps)
• Automation with Terraform in pipelines

Hands-on:

• Modify resources safely
• Import an existing resource
• Set up a pipeline to run terraform plan on code push

Module 10: Capstone Project

Project:

Deploy a small web application stack on both AWS and Azure using modules and remote state

AWS:

• VPC with public/private subnets
• EC2 web server
• S3 for static assets
• ALB for load balancing
• RDS database

Azure:

• VNet with subnets
• Linux VM web server
• Storage Account for static assets
• Load Balancer
• Azure DB for MySQL

Deliverables:

• Terraform code in version control
• README with deployment instructions
• Outputs for connection endpoints