Getting Started (Setup)

Relax. We'll talk through this in plain words — no textbook voice.

What you'll walk away with

Understand Getting Started (Setup), no intimidation required
Get hands-on running terraform commands and HCL code yourself
Be ready to apply this concept in a real project right away

Let's think about this for a second

Installing Terraform is free (you can download it from HashiCorp's website). Trying out cloud providers like AWS requires a cloud account plus credential setup, but for the early stages of learning you can practice the Terraform workflow (init/plan/apply) with the `local` provider — which just creates a file on your file system — without any cost or account setup.

Let's connect this to a real scenario

You'll create a `.tf` file and run through the 3-step workflow: `terraform init` (downloads the provider plugin) → `terraform plan` (previews what will change) → `terraform apply` (actually executes it) — you'll see this same 3-step workflow again and again throughout the tutorial.

Install the Terraform CLI from the HashiCorp website
local provider = for practicing the Terraform workflow without cost or an account
init → plan → apply = Terraform's core workflow

Let's look at an example

bash

# Check Terraform is installed
terraform version

# Initialize the working directory (downloads providers)
terraform init

# Preview what will be created/changed
terraform plan

# Actually create it
terraform apply

You should see

$ terraform version
Terraform v1.9.0
on windows_amd64

5-minute try-it

Install Terraform and run `terraform version` — make sure your setup is complete by getting a success output.

A quick word of caution

Lessons that use a cloud provider (AWS/Azure/GCP) can incur real costs — keep an eye on free-tier limits, and don't forget to clean up resources with `terraform destroy` after each practice session.

Easy traps

Forgetting to run `terraform init` in a new folder (one where the provider block has changed) — you need to re-run init every time the provider changes
Running `terraform apply` straight away without checking `plan` first — in production you should always read the plan carefully before applying

Now try it yourself

Install Terraform and run `terraform version` — make sure your setup is complete by getting a success output.

You'll know it worked when: $ terraform version Terraform v1.9.0 on windows_amd64