AWS CodePipeline with Terraform and Terraform Cloud(TFE) Backend

🚀 Setting Up a Real-Time AWS CodePipeline with Terraform and Terraform Cloud (TFE) Backend

In this guide, we’ll walk through setting up a real-time AWS CodePipeline that leverages Terraform to provision AWS cloud infrastructure such as EC2 instances, using Terraform Cloud (TFE) as the remote backend.

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🔧 Prerequisites & Setup Steps

1. Create IAM User in AWS

• Log in to your AWS account.

• Create an IAM user with programmatic access and attach necessary permissions (EC2, SSM, CodeBuild, CodePipeline, etc.).

• Generate and save the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.

2. Configure Terraform Cloud (TFE)

• Log in to Terraform Cloud.

• Create a Project, then a Workspace under it.

• Choose CLI-Driven Workflow.

• Under Workspace → Variables, add the following:

  • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

  • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

  • AWS_DEFAULT_REGION

3. Generate Terraform API Token

• Click on your user profile icon in Terraform Cloud.

• Go to User Settings → Tokens and generate a new API token.

• Note it down securely.

4. Store Secrets in AWS SSM Parameter Store

• Save the following values as secure string parameters in AWS Systems Manager (SSM):

  • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

  • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

  • TFE_API_TOKEN

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⚙️ CodeBuild Setup

5. Create AWS CodeBuild Project

• Set the Source Provider as GitHub.

• Enter your GitHub repository details.

• Choose buildspec as the build configuration, and provide the file name (e.g., buildspec.yaml).

• Assign or create a CodeBuild service role with the required permissions (SSM, EC2, etc.).

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🔄 CodePipeline Setup

6. Create AWS CodePipeline

• Go to the AWS CodePipeline console and create a new custom pipeline.

• Provide a name and select an appropriate pipeline service role.

• In the Source stage:

  • Select GitHub App as the provider.

  • Enter the repository name and branch (e.g., main).

• In the Build stage:

  • Choose AWS CodeBuild as the action provider.

  • Select the CodeBuild project.

  • Set the input artifacts to the source output.

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📦 GitHub Repository Structure

Your GitHub repo (e.g., https://github.com/shivaram235vemula/terrafrom_latest) should include:

9. Trigger the Pipeline & Verify Deployment

• Commit and push your Terraform code changes to the GitHub repository.

• This triggers the CodePipeline automatically.

• The pipeline fetches the latest code, runs the Terraform commands through CodeBuild, and provisions the defined AWS resources (e.g., EC2 instance).

• Navigate to your Terraform Cloud Workspace, and under the "States" tab, you'll find the generated Terraform state file, confirming that the infrastructure has been provisioned successfully.