In this section, we will explore how to integrate Terraform with GitHub Actions to automate your infrastructure deployments. GitHub Actions is a powerful CI/CD tool that allows you to automate workflows directly from your GitHub repository.

• Understand the basics of GitHub Actions.
• Learn how to set up a GitHub Actions workflow for Terraform.
• Automate Terraform commands using GitHub Actions.
• Securely manage secrets and environment variables.

• Basic understanding of Terraform and GitHub.
• A GitHub repository to work with.
• Terraform installed locally for initial setup and testing.

GitHub Actions allows you to automate tasks within your software development lifecycle. You can create workflows that build, test, and deploy your code right from GitHub.

• Workflow: A configurable automated process made up of one or more jobs.
• Job: A set of steps executed on the same runner.
• Step: An individual task that can run commands or actions.
• Runner: A server that runs your workflows when triggered.

In your GitHub repository, create a directory named .github/workflows. This is where your workflow files will reside.

Create a new file named terraform.yml inside the .github/workflows directory.

• name: The name of the workflow.
• on: Specifies the events that trigger the workflow (e.g., push, pull_request).
• jobs: Defines the jobs to be run.
• runs-on: Specifies the runner environment (e.g., ubuntu-latest).
• steps: Lists the steps to be executed in the job.

To securely manage sensitive information like cloud provider credentials, use GitHub Secrets.

1. Go to your GitHub repository.
2. Navigate to Settings > Secrets > New repository secret.
3. Add the necessary secrets (e.g., AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY).

Modify the terraform.yml to include environment variables for secrets.

Initializes the Terraform working directory.

Generates an execution plan.

Applies the changes required to reach the desired state of the configuration.

1. Create a GitHub Repository: Create a new repository on GitHub.
2. Add Terraform Configuration: Add your Terraform configuration files to the repository.
3. Set Up GitHub Actions: Follow the steps above to create a .github/workflows/terraform.yml file.
4. Add Secrets: Add necessary secrets to your GitHub repository.
5. Push Changes: Push your changes to the repository and observe the GitHub Actions workflow in action.

1. Repository Structure:

   .
   ├── .github
   │   └── workflows
   │       └── terraform.yml
   ├── main.tf
   └── variables.tf
   

2. main.tf:

   provider "aws" {
     region = "us-west-2"
   }
   
   resource "aws_s3_bucket" "example" {
     bucket = "my-unique-bucket-name"
     acl    = "private"
   }
   

3. variables.tf:

   variable "aws_region" {
     description = "The AWS region to deploy to"
     default     = "us-west-2"
   }
   

4. terraform.yml:

   name: Terraform
   
   on:
     push:
       branches:
         - main
     pull_request:
       branches:
         - main
   
   jobs:
     terraform:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
   
       steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v2
   
       - name: Set up Terraform
         uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v1
   
       - name: Terraform Init
         env:
           AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
         run: terraform init
   
       - name: Terraform Plan
         env:
           AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
         run: terraform plan
   
       - name: Terraform Apply
         if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
         env:
           AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
         run: terraform apply -auto-approve
   

In this section, you learned how to integrate Terraform with GitHub Actions to automate your infrastructure deployments. You set up a GitHub Actions workflow, configured secrets, and automated Terraform commands. This integration helps streamline your CI/CD pipeline, making your infrastructure as code (IaC) practices more efficient and reliable.

Next, we will explore how to use Terraform Cloud and Enterprise for advanced collaboration and management features.