Terraform Crash Course

Lesson 1 • What Is Infrastructure as Code

Defines IaC, contrasts it with manual provisioning, and explains its operational benefits. Sets the motivation for adopting Terraform throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Core Terraform Workflow

Introduces the write-plan-apply cycle that governs every Terraform operation. Students run their first end-to-end deployment using a minimal configuration.

Lesson 3 • Installing and Configuring Terraform

Guides students through installing Terraform on major operating systems and verifying the setup. Produces a working local environment for all subsequent labs.

Lesson 1 • HCL Syntax and File Structure

Covers blocks, arguments, identifiers, and file organization conventions. Provides the grammar rules needed to write error-free configurations.

Lesson 2 • Meta-Arguments and Iteration

Covers count, for_each, depends_on, and lifecycle meta-arguments. Students can manage multiple similar resources without duplicating code.

Lesson 3 • Local Values and Data Sources

Introduces locals for intermediate computations and data sources for reading external state. Reduces repetition and connects configurations to live infrastructure.

Lesson 4 • Variables and Outputs

Teaches input variables, output values, and their declaration syntax. Enables parameterized, reusable configurations central to later modules.

Lesson 1 • Importing Existing Infrastructure

Teaches terraform import and the newer config-driven import block. Students can bring unmanaged resources under Terraform control.

Lesson 2 • Configuring Multiple Providers

Demonstrates alias-based multi-provider and multi-region setups. Students can target different accounts or regions within a single configuration.

Lesson 3 • Resource Lifecycle and Change Management

Covers how Terraform plans, applies, and destroys resources, including replace and ignore behaviors. Students control infrastructure changes safely.

Lesson 4 • Understanding Terraform Providers

Explains what providers are, how they are versioned, and how Terraform downloads them. Establishes the plugin model underlying all resource operations.

Lesson 1 • Configuring Remote Backends

Demonstrates configuring cloud-based backends for shared, durable state storage. Students migrate local state to a remote backend during the lab.

Lesson 2 • State Commands and Manipulation

Covers terraform state subcommands for inspecting, moving, and removing resources. Students can repair state without destroying infrastructure.

Lesson 3 • Workspaces for Environment Isolation

Introduces Terraform workspaces as a lightweight environment-separation mechanism. Students understand when workspaces are appropriate vs. separate configurations.

Lesson 1 • Calling and Composing Modules

Demonstrates how to call local and registry modules and pass variables between them. Students assemble multi-module configurations in the lab.

Lesson 2 • Module Versioning and the Registry

Covers semantic versioning, version constraints, and the public Terraform Registry. Students pin module versions and evaluate third-party modules critically.

Lesson 3 • Building a Reusable Module

Walks through authoring a production-quality module with variables, outputs, and validation. Students publish a module to a local registry for team use.

Lesson 4 • Advanced Module Patterns

Explores dynamic blocks, module for_each, and optional object attributes for flexible modules. Students handle complex, variable-length infrastructure requirements.

Lesson 1 • Policy as Code with Sentinel and OPA

Demonstrates enforcing organizational guardrails using policy-as-code frameworks. Students write policies that block non-compliant plans automatically.

Lesson 2 • Static Analysis and Linting

Introduces terraform validate, tflint, and policy-as-code tools for pre-apply checks. Students catch misconfigurations without provisioning real resources.

Lesson 3 • Terraform Native Testing Framework

Teaches the terraform test command and .tftest.hcl file format introduced in Terraform 1.6. Students write unit and integration tests for modules.

Lesson 1 • Pull Request Automation and Drift Detection

Introduces automated plan comments on pull requests and scheduled drift detection runs. Students close the feedback loop between code review and infrastructure state.

Lesson 2 • Terraform Cloud and Remote Execution

Covers Terraform Cloud's remote run model, VCS integration, and run triggers. Students migrate a local workflow to a managed remote execution environment.

Lesson 3 • Automating Plan and Apply in Pipelines

Demonstrates configuring pipeline jobs to run terraform plan and apply with proper flags. Students produce a working pipeline definition in the lab.

Lesson 4 • Pipeline Design Principles for IaC

Establishes the stages, gates, and approval flows appropriate for infrastructure pipelines. Frames the automation decisions made in subsequent sections.

Lesson 1 • Upgrading Terraform and Managing Drift

Guides students through version upgrades, provider updates, and long-term drift management. Students maintain a healthy codebase over its full operational lifetime.

Lesson 2 • Dynamic and Complex Expressions

Covers advanced for expressions, splat operators, and dynamic block generation. Students eliminate repetitive code in complex, data-driven configurations.

Lesson 3 • Performance and Parallelism Tuning

Addresses slow apply times, parallelism settings, and partial apply strategies. Students optimize Terraform runs for large infrastructure graphs.

Lesson 4 • Large-Scale Codebase Architecture

Examines monorepo vs. multi-repo layouts, root module decomposition, and dependency graphs. Students design a folder structure that scales across teams.