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Martin Atkins 6f35c2847b command: Reorganize docs of the local backend's legacy CLI options
We have these funny extra options that date back to before Terraform even
had remote state, which we've preserved along the way by most recently
incorporating them as special-case overrides for the local backend.

The documentation we had for these has grown less accurate over time as
the details have shifted, and was in many cases missing the requisite
caveats that they are only for the local backend and that backend
configuration is the modern, preferred way to deal with the use-cases they
were intended for.

We always have a bit of a tension with this sort of legacy option because
we want to keep them documented just enough to be useful to someone who
finds an existing script/etc using them and wants to know what they do,
but not to take up so much space that they might distract users from
finding the modern alternative they should consider instead.

As a compromise in that vein here I've created a new section about these
options under the local backend documentation, which then gives us the
space to go into some detail about the various behaviors and interactions
and also to discuss their history and our recommended alternatives. I then
simplified all of the other mentions of these in command documentation
to just link to or refer to the local backend documentation. My hope then
is that folks who need to know what these do can still find the docs, but
that information can be kept out of the direct path of new users so they
can focus on learning about remote backends instead.

This is certainly not the most ideal thing ever, but it seemed like the
best compromise between the competing priorities I described above.
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.circleci update to match new default branch name (#27909) 2021-02-24 13:36:47 -05:00
.github update to match new default branch name (#27909) 2021-02-24 13:36:47 -05:00
addrs core: Reduce string allocations for addrs Equal 2021-03-05 13:23:32 -05:00
backend Merge pull request #28099 from jasons42/duplicate-default-workspace 2021-03-17 14:11:04 -04:00
builtin remote provisioners require a connection config 2021-02-24 13:25:58 -05:00
command command: Reorganize docs of the local backend's legacy CLI options 2021-03-25 13:56:48 -07:00
communicator Grammar nit: "setup" as a verb should be spelled "set up" 2021-01-26 20:39:11 +01:00
configs terraform: validate providers' schemas during NewContext (#28124) 2021-03-22 13:17:50 -04:00
dag Set Intersection #performance (#28183) 2021-03-24 13:04:37 -04:00
docs update destroying doc to show show more CBD detail 2021-03-23 11:21:43 -04:00
e2e command/cliconfig: Allow development overrides for providers 2020-10-16 14:31:15 -07:00
experiments Conclude provider sensitivity experiment 2021-03-10 12:10:26 -05:00
httpclient Merge pull request #22272 from hashicorp/f-httpclient-ua 2019-08-12 20:20:03 +01:00
instances instances: staticcheck 2020-12-02 13:59:19 -05:00
internal Accept TF_LOG=json to enable TRACE logs in JSON format 2021-03-16 14:59:15 -07:00
lang lang/funcs: "sensitive" and "nonsensitive" functions 2021-03-16 16:26:22 -07:00
moduledeps remove LegacyProvider (#26433) 2020-10-05 08:33:49 -04:00
plans core: Reduce string allocations for addrs Equal 2021-03-05 13:23:32 -05:00
plugin providers.Interface: rename ValidateDataSourceConfig to ValidateDataResourceConfig (#27874) 2021-02-24 12:04:28 -05:00
plugin6 providers.Interface: rename ValidateDataSourceConfig to ValidateDataResourceConfig (#27874) 2021-02-24 12:04:28 -05:00
providers providers.Interface: rename ValidateDataSourceConfig to ValidateDataResourceConfig (#27874) 2021-02-24 12:04:28 -05:00
provisioners provisioners: Add Factory type and FactoryFixed helper 2018-10-16 19:14:11 -07:00
registry registry: staticcheck 2020-12-02 13:59:19 -05:00
repl Mildwonkey/providers interface renaming (#27805) 2021-02-18 10:13:43 -05:00
scripts Remove revision from version command 2021-01-12 16:35:30 -05:00
states Correct the spelling of heirarchy/hierarchy throughout 2021-02-05 15:07:04 +00:00
terraform check for unknowns when marking resource values 2021-03-23 17:06:18 -04:00
tfdiags consistent reciever names 2020-12-02 13:59:18 -05:00
tools terraform-bundle: return an error if "versions" argument is omitted (#28158) 2021-03-22 10:51:03 -04:00
version Cleanup after v0.15.0-alpha20210210 release 2021-02-10 18:00:31 +00:00
website command: Reorganize docs of the local backend's legacy CLI options 2021-03-25 13:56:48 -07:00
.gitignore ignoring the vendor folder 2020-10-27 19:07:32 +01:00
.go-version build: Use Go 1.16.2 2021-03-17 10:27:37 -07:00
.hashibot.hcl Restore issue migrator 2020-10-09 15:41:15 -04:00
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BUGPROCESS.md Update BUGPROCESS.md 2020-12-10 12:15:39 -05:00
CHANGELOG.md Update CHANGELOG.md 2021-02-24 10:09:08 -08:00
CODEOWNERS Updating codeowners with our deprecated status for tool-specific provisioners 2020-09-29 14:19:56 -04:00
Dockerfile switch to hashicorp docker mirror 2020-10-29 22:37:11 -04:00
LICENSE
Makefile Remove website-test task from Makefile 2021-01-13 17:35:54 -08:00
README.md update to match new default branch name (#27909) 2021-02-24 13:36:47 -05:00
checkpoint.go Remove config.go and update things using its aliases 2020-01-13 16:50:05 -05:00
codecov.yml update to match new default branch name (#27909) 2021-02-24 13:36:47 -05:00
commands.go command: Experimental "terraform test" command 2021-02-22 14:21:45 -08:00
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help.go Update links to CLI docs in code comments, messages, and readme 2021-01-22 12:22:21 -08:00
main.go Grammar nit: "setup" as a verb should be spelled "set up" 2021-01-26 20:39:11 +01:00
main_test.go Grammar nit: "setup" as a verb should be spelled "set up" 2021-01-26 20:39:11 +01:00
plugins.go Remove config.go and update things using its aliases 2020-01-13 16:50:05 -05:00
provider_source.go Correct the spelling of heirarchy/hierarchy throughout 2021-02-05 15:07:04 +00:00
signal_unix.go Forward SIGTERM and handle that as an interrupt 2016-12-08 12:20:25 -05:00
signal_windows.go Forward SIGTERM and handle that as an interrupt 2016-12-08 12:20:25 -05:00
version.go Remove revision from version command 2021-01-12 16:35:30 -05:00

README.md

Terraform

Terraform

Terraform is a tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently. Terraform can manage existing and popular service providers as well as custom in-house solutions.

The key features of Terraform are:

  • Infrastructure as Code: Infrastructure is described using a high-level configuration syntax. This allows a blueprint of your datacenter to be versioned and treated as you would any other code. Additionally, infrastructure can be shared and re-used.

  • Execution Plans: Terraform has a "planning" step where it generates an execution plan. The execution plan shows what Terraform will do when you call apply. This lets you avoid any surprises when Terraform manipulates infrastructure.

  • Resource Graph: Terraform builds a graph of all your resources, and parallelizes the creation and modification of any non-dependent resources. Because of this, Terraform builds infrastructure as efficiently as possible, and operators get insight into dependencies in their infrastructure.

  • Change Automation: Complex changesets can be applied to your infrastructure with minimal human interaction. With the previously mentioned execution plan and resource graph, you know exactly what Terraform will change and in what order, avoiding many possible human errors.

For more information, see the introduction section of the Terraform website.

Getting Started & Documentation

Documentation is available on the Terraform website:

If you're new to Terraform and want to get started creating infrastructure, please check out our Getting Started guides on HashiCorp's learning platform. There are also additional guides to continue your learning.

Show off your Terraform knowledge by passing a certification exam. Visit the certification page for information about exams and find study materials on HashiCorp's learning platform.

Developing Terraform

This repository contains only Terraform core, which includes the command line interface and the main graph engine. Providers are implemented as plugins, and Terraform can automatically download providers that are published on the Terraform Registry. HashiCorp develops some providers, and others are developed by other organizations. For more information, see Extending Terraform.

To learn more about compiling Terraform and contributing suggested changes, please refer to the contributing guide.

To learn more about how we handle bug reports, please read the bug triage guide.

License

Mozilla Public License v2.0