07 червня 2024 р.
Terraform is a powerful infrastructure management tool developed by HashiCorp. It has gained popularity among developers and engineers for its ability to automate the creation, configuration, and management of infrastructure in cloud storage and centralized data centers.
This solution is now launched on the OneCloudPlanet platform. It is a new addition to our service offerings, which we are pleased to provide to our clients. Terraform is now available to ensure effective and reliable management of your cloud infrastructure.
How Terraform works and interacts with OneCloudPlanet through plugins and APIs
Solution for professional users
Today, we are talking about a tool designed for experienced users, offering many possibilities for managing infrastructure. Let’s look at several key applications for DevOps professionals that will help maximize the efficiency of this tool:
- Application deployment automation: Terraform allows you to describe infrastructure as code and automate deployment processes, significantly reducing the time required to create and configure application environments.
- Managing multiple cloud platforms: we have integrated this solution to simplify infrastructure management across various cloud environments. This enables our clients to centrally manage their resources using our platform without switching between different cloud providers.
- Infrastructure scaling: the tool provides automatic resource scaling according to load, ensuring stable application operation even with increased traffic.
- Infrastructure version control: using version control systems like Git, you can track configuration changes, roll them back, and work on projects collaboratively.
- Infrastructure state management: this solution stores the infrastructure state, allowing easy tracking of changes and maintaining configuration accuracy.
IaC with Terraform
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a methodology for automated infrastructure management using a programmable approach, where infrastructure is described in code instead of settings and manual actions. At OneCloudPlanet, we have implemented IaC to achieve a high degree of infrastructure automation and reproducibility, providing our clients with advanced tools for managing their resources.
Key aspects of IaC with Terraform include:
- Desired state description: instead of describing the sequence of actions to create infrastructure, users describe the desired state of the infrastructure in configuration files. The tool determines the steps needed to achieve this state.
- Set of tasks and resources: in Terraform, infrastructure is described as a set of tasks and resources. Tasks define what needs to be done (e.g., create a server), and resources specify which objects and configurations to use for this.
- Code reuse: the tool promotes code reuse through the use of modules. Modules are blocks of configuration suitable for creating various parts of the infrastructure.
- Version control: IaC allows configuration files to be stored in version control systems like Git. This enables tracking changes, rolling them back, and collaborating on projects.
- Automation: it ensures the automation of deployment and infrastructure management processes, allowing complete infrastructure reproducibility.
Let’s look at an example of how using Terraform on the OneCloudPlanet platform helps clients efficiently manage their resources, providing a reliable and scalable solution for infrastructure management.
The process of working with Terraform on the OneCloudPlanet platform
1. Practitioner (User): the block represents a user managing infrastructure through coding. This can include DevOps engineers, system administrators, or developers.
2. Infrastructure as Code: the client describes the infrastructure as code. This is the main principle of IaC, where all infrastructure components, such as servers, networks, and databases, are defined in configuration files.
3. Community: a community of users sharing their modules and solutions. This promotes knowledge exchange and the improvement of IaC practices.
4. Plan: at this stage, Terraform creates an execution plan that shows what changes will be made to the infrastructure based on the described configurations. This plan can be reviewed and approved before applying the changes.
5. Apply: after the plan is approved, Terraform applies the configurations, creating or modifying resources according to the described rules and parameters.
- Supported technologies: the diagram shows an example of supported technologies, such as Kubernetes and others. This demonstrates the possibilities for integrating and managing various platforms through Terraform.
- Managed infrastructure: the output is managed infrastructure deployed in the cloud or on physical servers. The diagram shows how resources are automatically created and managed using Terraform tools provided by the OneCloudPlanet platform.
Terraform in action
Terraform operates on the principle of "Infrastructure as Code" (IaC). This means that the entire infrastructure (servers, network resources, databases, and other components) can be described in configuration files that Terraform then uses for creation and management.
Key stages of its operation include:
1. Infrastructure description: developers create configuration files defining resources and parameters using the HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL).
2. Initialization: the tool initializes the working directory and loads all necessary modules and plugins from repositories.
3. Planning: Terraform creates an execution plan that contains all the changes needed to achieve the desired state of the infrastructure. This plan can be reviewed to ensure it reflects the expected changes.
4. Configuration application: after the plan is approved, Terraform automatically creates or modifies resources according to the described rules and parameters.
5. State saving: it saves the state of the infrastructure in a separate file, allowing the current state to be tracked and changes to be identified.
6. Update and management: in the future, it can be used for updating or expanding the infrastructure and automating routine management tasks.
Additional information
For a detailed introduction to the process of using Terraform on the OneCloudPlanet platform and step-by-step instructions, we recommend checking out our documentation, where you will find detailed instructions and recommendations for each of these aspects. It covers the following key aspects:
1. Preparation: creating OpenAPI and OpenStack tokens, creating the `openrc` file, using the OpenStack API for resource management, and using the OneCloud provider for managing Kubernetes clusters.
2. Terraform initialization: detailed description of the `terraform init` command, which creates the necessary files for Terraform.
3. Creating resources with Terraform: steps for creating resource configurations in the working directory and executing the `terraform apply` command to apply the configurations.
4. Updating: instructions for updating the provider in the `ocp_provider.tf` file, including the `terraform init --upgrade` command.
These sections contain all the necessary information for the effective use of Terraform on our platform. We strive to provide our clients with the best tools for managing their infrastructure and are always ready to assist with any questions.
Hence
Terraform is a powerful tool for automating infrastructure as code, simplifying the creation, deployment, and management of large and complex projects.
Take advantage of the new solution today to experience all the benefits of automated infrastructure management. Connect to the OneCloudPlanet platform and start using Terraform to improve the efficiency and reliability of your cloud infrastructure.