Terraform Skill

Infrastructure-as-code reference for Terraform configurations, state management, and provider patterns.

Quick Reference

Core workflow

terraform init # Initialize, download providers terraform validate # Syntax validation terraform fmt -recursive # Format HCL files terraform plan # Preview changes terraform apply # Apply changes

Inspection

terraform state list # List resources in state terraform state show <resource> # Show resource details terraform graph | dot -Tsvg > graph.svg # Dependency graph

Debug

TF_LOG=DEBUG terraform plan 2>debug.log

Core Workflow

init → validate → fmt → plan → apply

• init: Download providers, initialize backend

• validate: Check syntax and configuration validity

• fmt: Ensure consistent formatting

• plan: Preview what will change (review carefully)

• apply: Execute changes

Reference Files

Load on-demand based on task:

Topic File When to Load

Troubleshooting troubleshooting.md Common errors, debugging

State state-management.md Backends, locking, operations

Modules module-design.md Module patterns, composition

Security security.md Secrets, state security

Proxmox Gotchas proxmox/gotchas.md Critical provider issues, workarounds

Proxmox Auth proxmox/authentication.md Provider config, API tokens

Proxmox VMs proxmox/vm-qemu.md proxmox_vm_qemu resource patterns

Proxmox Errors proxmox/troubleshooting.md Proxmox-specific errors

External external-resources.md Official docs, links

Validation Checklist

Before terraform apply :

• terraform init completed successfully

• terraform validate passes

• terraform fmt applied

• terraform plan reviewed (check destroy/replace operations)

• Backend configured correctly (for team environments)

• State locking enabled (if remote backend)

• Sensitive variables marked sensitive = true

• Provider versions pinned in terraform.tf

• No secrets in version control

• Blast radius assessed (what could break?)

Variable Precedence

(highest to lowest)

• -var flag: terraform apply -var="name=value"

• -var-file flag: terraform apply -var-file=prod.tfvars

• *.auto.tfvars files (alphabetically)

• terraform.tfvars file

• TF_VAR_* environment variables

• Variable defaults in variables.tf