Cloud configuration is at the heart of modern DevOps, and HashiCorp’s Terraform is one of the most powerful tools for the task. It enables automation and management of Infrastructure as Code (IaC), making your deployments repeatable, scalable, and versioned.

In this short blog post, you’ll learn more about Terraform and the five essential commands to get started with AWS Cloud Provisioning.

What is Terraform?

Terraform is an open source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool that allows you to define and manage your cloud resources using a simple declarative language called HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language).

Using Terraform you can: • Launch EC2 instances

• Set up VPCs

• Manage S3 buckets

• Control IAM roles

• And much more... all in just a few lines of code.

5 Essential Terraform Commands for AWS

1.terraform init

This initializes your Terraform working directory. It downloads the AWS provider plugin and sets up the project.

Think of it as the “npm install” or “pip install” for Terraform.

2.terraform plan

This command shows you what Terraform will do before actually making any changes.

Always use this to verify your configuration before applying it!

3.terraform apply

This executes the plan and actually provisions your AWS infrastructure.

You’ll be prompted to confirm before it starts making changes.

4.terraform destroy

Want to clean up your AWS resources? This command tears everything down.

Useful for cost savings and keeping your environment tidy.

5.terraform validate

Checks if your .tf files are syntactically valid and structurally sound.

Helps catch errors early before you plan or apply.

Final Thoughts

Terraform has fundamentally changed DevOps and cloud engineering. With just a few commands, you can deploy, update, or destroy complex AWS infrastructure in minutes. If you're just getting started with cloud automation, these five commands will become your best friends!

Getting Started with Terraform: 5 Must-Know Commands for AWS Cloud Provisioning