🚀 Introduction

In today’s DevOps world, automation is the backbone of efficient deployments. Instead of manually creating containers, wouldn’t it be great if you could define everything in a simple configuration file and let the tool do the heavy lifting?

That’s exactly where Terraform comes into play.
In this guide, we’ll learn how to use Terraform to automatically create and manage a Docker container running the latest Nginx image — all without clicking around or running multiple manual commands.

This tutorial is beginner-friendly and perfect for those who want to understand Infrastructure as Code (IaC) while working locally with Docker.

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🧰 Tools Used

• Terraform

• Docker

• Ubuntu (Local Machine)

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🔸Step 1: Create Project Folder & Files

mkdir task-3-terraform-docker
cd task-3-terraform-docker
touch main.tf

• Then open it using any text editor (like nano, code, or VS Code), and paste this code inside main.tf:

terraform {
  required_providers {
    docker = {
      source  = "kreuzwerker/docker"
      version = "~> 2.23.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "docker" {}

resource "docker_image" "nginx" {
  name = "nginx:latest"
}

resource "docker_container" "nginx" {
  name  = "nginx_container"
  image = docker_image.nginx.latest
  ports {
    internal = 80
    external = 8081
  }
}

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🔸Step 2: Install Terraform

sudo snap install terraform --classic

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🔸Step 3: Initialize Terraform

• In the same directory where main.tf is saved, run: terraform init

  

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🔸Step 4: Apply the Configuration (Start Container)

• Now let’s actually provision the infrastructure. Run: terraform plan

  

  

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🔸Step 5: Apply the Configuration (Start Container)

• Now let’s actually provision the infrastructure. Run: terraform apply

  

• It will ask:

Do you want to perform these actions?
  Terraform will perform the following actions:
    ...
  Enter a value:

• Type: yes

  

  

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🔸Step 6: Check container is running:

docker ps

Open in browser:

• Visit: http://localhost:8081

• You should see the default Nginx welcome page.

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🔸Step 7: Explore Terraform State

• Terraform keeps track of all created resources using a file called terraform.tfstate.

• View the state file

• In terminal: ls

• You will see: main.tf & terraform.tfstate

• List resources managed by Terraform

terraform state list

• Output will show:

docker_image.nginx
docker_container.nginx

• Remove docker container by typing command:

sudo docker rm -f nginx_container

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🔸Step 8: Destroy the Infrastructure (Cleanup)

• Terraform gives you full control — so let’s clean everything it created.

• In your terminal, run:

terraform destroy

• It will show what resources will be destroyed:

Terraform will destroy the following:
  # docker_container.nginx will be destroyed
  # docker_image.nginx will be destroyed

• Then it will ask:

Do you really want to destroy all resources? (yes/no)

Type : yes

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🚀Conclusion

By combining Terraform and Docker, you can create, manage, and destroy containers in a completely automated way. This not only saves time but also ensures that your infrastructure is consistent and repeatable.

This project is a simple but powerful introduction to Infrastructure as Code, and it lays the foundation for scaling into more complex setups like AWS, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines.

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Thanks for reading to the end; I hope you gained some knowledge.❤️🙌

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