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smit_kalathiya — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 12:25:58 +0000

1. Terraform Basics & Workflow

smit_kalathiya ・ Feb 4

#infrastructureascode #terraform #devops #cloudcomputing

1. Terraform Basics & Workflow

smit_kalathiya — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 12:53:02 +0000

Welcome to the first technical post of my Terraform series! Before we dive into complex configurations, we need to understand the "heartbeat" of Terraform: The Workflow.

In this post, we’ll cover what Terraform actually does and the three commands you will use 90% of the time.

🧩 What is Terraform?

At its core, Terraform is an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool that uses a declarative approach.

Imperative (The "How"): You tell the cloud exactly what steps to take (e.g., "Step 1: Create a VPC, Step 2: Create a Subnet").
Declarative (The "What"): You define the final state you want (e.g., "I want a VPC with this CIDR block"), and Terraform figures out how to make it happen.

🔄 The Standard Terraform Workflow

The Terraform lifecycle follows a simple, repeatable four-step process. Whether you are deploying a single S3 bucket or a massive Kubernetes cluster, the steps remain the same:

1. ✍️ Write

You write your infrastructure code in files ending in .tf using HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language). This is where you define your providers (like AWS or Azure) and your resources.

2. 🏁 Terraform Init

Before Terraform can do anything, it needs to prepare the working directory.

Command: terraform init
What it does: Downloads the necessary Provider plugins, initializes the backend, and sets up the local .terraform folder.
Exam Tip: You must run init every time you add a new provider or change backend configurations.

3. 📝 Terraform Plan

This is the "dry run" phase. It lets you see what will happen without actually making changes.

Command: terraform plan
What it does: Compares your code against the State file and the real-world infrastructure. It tells you what will be Added, Changed, or Destroyed.

4. 🚀 Terraform Apply

This is where the magic happens.

Command: terraform apply
What it does: It executes the plan. Terraform calls the Cloud APIs to provision the resources and updates the terraform.tfstate file.

⚠️ Common Mistakes for Beginners

Skipping the Plan: Always read your plan before hitting 'yes' on the apply.
Forgetting Init: If you copy a project to a new folder, you must run terraform init again.
Editing State Manually: Never edit the terraform.tfstate file by hand.

🎓 Exam-Focused Notes (003)

The "Destroy" Command: terraform destroy is used to remove all managed infrastructure.
Execution Plan: You can save a plan to a file using terraform plan -out=path.
Initialization: terraform init does not create any infrastructure; it only prepares the environment.

📢 What’s Next?

Now that we know how Terraform works, we need to get it onto our systems. My next post will cover:

“Installing & Setting Up Terraform (Step-by-Step)”

If you're following along, let me know which cloud provider you're planning to use with Terraform! 🚀

🚀 Starting My Terraform Journey – HashiCorp Terraform Associate Exam (003)

smit_kalathiya — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:22:04 +0000

I’m officially starting my Terraform learning journey with the goal of clearing the HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003) certification.

I’ve worked with cloud and DevOps concepts before, but now I want to go deeper into Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and understand Terraform the right way — concepts, best practices, and real-world usage.

This blog series will help me:

Stay consistent
Document what I learn
Help others who are starting from scratch

🎯 Why Terraform?

Terraform is one of the most widely used Infrastructure as Code tools. It allows us to:

Provision infrastructure using declarative code
Manage cloud resources across multiple providers
Version control infrastructure
Reduce manual errors and improve scalability

Most importantly, it’s cloud-agnostic, which makes it a must-have DevOps skill.

📌 Certification Goal

HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (003)

This certification validates:

Core Terraform concepts
State management
Modules and providers
Terraform Cloud basics
Best practices and workflows

The exam is MCQ-based and focuses more on understanding concepts than writing code.

🧭 Topics I’ll Be Covering

Here are the 15 main topics I plan to study and write about:

Terraform Basics & Workflow
Installing & Setting Up Terraform
Providers
Terraform Configuration Language (HCL)
Resources
Variables & Input Values
Output Values
State Management
Backends
Modules
Dependency Management
Terraform Functions
Workspaces
Provisioners & Meta-Arguments
Terraform Cloud & Enterprise

Each topic will have:

Simple explanations
Examples
Common mistakes
Exam-focused notes

🛠 My Learning Plan

📘 Read official HashiCorp docs
💻 Practice Terraform with AWS (basic resources)
📝 Write short blogs after each topic
❓ Solve practice MCQs
🔁 Revise weak areas

🤝 Who Is This Series For?

Beginners starting Terraform
DevOps engineers preparing for Terraform Associate
Anyone who wants clear, simple explanations

📢 What’s Next?

My next post will cover:

“What is Terraform & How the Terraform Workflow Works (init, plan, apply)”

If you’re also preparing for Terraform or just starting out, follow along — let’s learn together 🚀

💬 Let’s Connect

If you have tips, resources, or suggestions for the Terraform exam, feel free to comment or reach out.

Happy Learning! 😊

Starting My DevOps Journey!

smit_kalathiya — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 17:34:52 +0000

Hey Dev.to community!

Just wanted to share some exciting news: I'm officially starting my journey into the world of DevOps.

I've been interested in the intersection of development and operations for a while now, and I'm ready to dive in. I'm excited to learn about CI/CD, automation, cloud platforms, and all the tools that make modern software delivery so efficient.

I'll be documenting my progress here on Dev.to, sharing what I'm learning, what challenges I'm facing, and the cool projects I'm working on.

If you have any advice for a beginner, I'd love to hear it in the comments. Let's connect!