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Bala Audu Musa
Bala Audu Musa

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Provisioning AWS Infrastructure Using Terraform (IaC)

#terraform #provision #aws #windows

6 million dollar question: “If everything went down today, could you rebuild it from code?”

After this project, the answer is YES.

🎯 PROJECT 3 — GOALS

  • By the end of this project, you will:
  • Provision AWS infrastructure entirely from code
  • Create and destroy EC2 safely using Terraform
  • Manage Security Groups declaratively
  • Understand Terraform state (very important)

Be able to say (confidently):

“I provision AWS infrastructure using Terraform.”
📦 WHAT WE WILL BUILD (CLEAR SCOPE)

Terraform will create:

✅ EC2 instance (Ubuntu)

✅ Security Group

  • SSH (22)
  • HTTP (80)

✅ Key Pair (or reference existing)

✅ Output values (public IP)

This will replace manual EC2 creation.

🗂 PROJECT STRUCTURE (PROFESSIONAL)

project-3-terraform-aws/
├── main.tf
├── variables.tf
├── outputs.tf
├── terraform.tfvars
└── README.md
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NB: Note that we are using Bash terminal throughout the project except stated otherwise.

🧱 CLASS 1 — TERRAFORM SETUP & BASICS
Step 1: Install Terraform (Windows)

Download:
👉 https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/downloads

Choose:

  • Windows AMD64
  • Extract terraform.exe
  • Add it to PATH

How do you add to path?

🧱 STEP 4 — ADD TERRAFORM TO PATH (CRITICAL)

This is the step most people miss.

3️⃣ Add C:\terraform to PATH (CRITICAL)

  • Press Windows key
  • Search: Environment Variables
  • Open Edit the system environment variables
  • Click Environment Variables
  • Under System variables, select Path
  • Click Edit
  • Click New

Click on Browse.. and select the terraform folder we have save in C:.

Click OK on all windows.

⚠️ You must close and reopen Git Bash after this.

🧪 STEP 5 — VERIFY INSTALLATION

Close all terminals.

Open Git Bash again, then run:
Verify:

terraform -version
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You must see a version number.

✅ STEP 2: Create the Terraform project directory

Now create it:

mkdir project-3-terraform-aws

Enter it:

cd project-3-terraform-aws

Confirm:

pwd

You should see:

.../Desktop/project-3-terraform-aws
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✅ Now you’re in the right place.

☁️ AWS SETUP — KEY PAIR (SAFE & CORRECT)
🎯 What we are doing

By the end of this, you will have:

  • An AWS account
  • An EC2 Key Pair
  • A .pem file saved safely
  • The key pair NAME ready for Terraform ⚠️ We are NOT creating EC2 yet — just preparing access.

STEP 1: Log in to AWS Console

Go to:
👉 https://console.aws.amazon.com/

Sign in with your *AWS account.
*
STEP 2: Select the correct region (IMPORTANT)

Top-right corner of AWS Console:

Select US East (N. Virginia) → us-east-1

Why?

  • Free-tier friendly
  • Matches our Terraform default
  • Most tutorials & AMIs work here

STEP 3: Go to EC2 Dashboard

In the AWS search bar, type:

EC2

Click EC2.

STEP 4: Create a Key Pair

In the left sidebar:

Network & Security → Key Pairs
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Click Create key pair.

Fill the form:

Name:

terraform-key

(simple, professional, reusable)

Key pair type: RSA

Private key file format: .pem

Click Create key pair.

STEP 5: SAVE THE KEY FILE (VERY IMPORTANT)

Your browser will download:

terraform-key.pem

Do NOT delete it

Do NOT rename it

⚠️ AWS will never show this file again.

✅ STEP 3: Initialize the project files
Create the Terraform files we’ll use:

`touch main.tf variables.tf outputs.tf terraform.tfvars`
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Confirm:

ls

You should see:

main.tf  variables.tf  outputs.tf  terraform.tfvars
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Now that the folder exists and files are created, open it in VS Code:

code .
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Step 1: Paste variables.tf

Open variables.tf and paste:

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variable "region" {
description = "AWS region"
type = string
default = "us-east-1"
}

variable "instance_type" {
description = "EC2 instance type (keep low-cost)"
type = string
default = "t2.micro"
}

variable "key_name" {
description = "Existing AWS key pair name (NOT the .pem filename)"
type = string
}


Step 2: Paste `main.tf`

Open `main.tf `and paste:
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terraform {
required_providers {
aws = {
source = "hashicorp/aws"
version = "~> 5.0"
}
}
}

provider "aws" {
region = var.region
}

resource "aws_security_group" "web_sg" {
name = "terraform-web-sg"
description = "Allow SSH and HTTP"

ingress {
description = "SSH"
from_port = 22
to_port = 22
protocol = "tcp"
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
}

ingress {
description = "HTTP"
from_port = 80
to_port = 80
protocol = "tcp"
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
}

egress {
from_port = 0
to_port = 0
protocol = "-1"
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
}
}

data "aws_ami" "ubuntu" {
most_recent = true

filter {
name = "name"
values = ["ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-jammy-22.04-amd64-server-*"]
}

filter {
name = "virtualization-type"
values = ["hvm"]
}

owners = ["099720109477"] # Canonical (Ubuntu)
}

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
ami = data.aws_ami.ubuntu.id
instance_type = var.instance_type
key_name = var.key_name

vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.web_sg.id]

tags = {
Name = "terraform-web-instance"
}
}

Step 3: Paste `outputs.tf`

Open `outputs.tf` and paste:
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output "public_ip" {
description = "Public IP of the EC2 instance"
value = aws_instance.web.public_ip
}


Step 4: Set `terraform.tfvars`

Open `terraform.tfvars` and paste (edit the key name):
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key_name = "YOUR_KEYPAIR_NAME"


⚠️ This must be your AWS Key Pair name (example: nodejs-key) — not nodejs-key.pem.

Step 5: Run Terraform commands (from Git Bash in project-3 folder)
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terraform init
terraform fmt
terraform validate
terraform plan

STEP 6: Confirm the **Key Pair** exists

Back in `AWS Console → Key Pairs`

You should see:
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terraform-key

👉 Terraform uses the **name**
👉 SSH uses the **.pem file**

STEP 7: Prepare for **Terraform**

Now go back to your local machine.

Open:

`project-3-terraform-aws/terraform.tfvars`


Set:
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key_name = "terraform-key"



✅ This is correct.

🚀 PROJECT 3 — CLASS 2 (CONTINUED)
Terraform Plan → Apply → Verify → Destroy (Cost-Safe)

You already have:

✅ Terraform installed

✅ AWS CLI configured

✅ Key pair created: terraform-key

✅ Terraform files created

Now we proceed.

✅ **Step 1: Set the key pair in Terraform**

Open `terraform.tfvars` and confirm it contains exactly:

`key_name = "terraform-key"`

Save the file.

✅ FIX AWS CLI v2 (Windows 11)

Step 1: Check if AWS CLI files actually exist

Open File Explorer and go to:
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C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSCLIV2\


Look for:
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aws.exe


Also check this folder:
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C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSCLIV2\bin\



Look for:
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aws.exe


How to add PATH:

Press **Win key** → type **Environment Variables**

Open **Edit the system environment variables**

Click **Environment Variables…**

Under User variables (top), select **Path** → **Edit**

New → paste the path above

**OK → OK → OK**

✅ Now close ALL terminals (PowerShell + Git Bash) and reopen PowerShell.

Test:

**where aws
aws --version**

**After AWS works: configure creds for Terraform**

Once `aws --version` works, do:
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aws configure


Set:

region: `us-east-1
`
output: `json`

Then confirm:
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aws sts get-caller-identity


Then go back to your **Terraform folder** and **run**:
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terraform plan

Expected output (example):
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C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSCLIV2\aws.exe
aws-cli/2.xx.x Python/3.xx Windows/10 exe/AMD64

✅ **Then continue Project 3 (Terraform AWS)**
Configure AWS credentials:
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aws configure


Enter:

**Access Key ID** → from AWS IAM
**Secret Access Key** → from AWS IAM
**Region** → `us-east-1`
**Output** → `json`

Verify:
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aws sts get-caller-identity

Then:
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Copy code
terraform init
terraform plan

You should get a successful result.

![ ](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5nmvwgspcd28m35yxgap.png)

**Next step (Project 3)**

From the same folder `(~/OneDrive/Desktop/project-3-terraform-aws)` run:
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terraform apply


Type **yes **when it asks.

After it finishes, **run**:
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terraform output


You should see the
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public_ip


**1) Get the EC2 Public IP**

![ ](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6gwnfgstg8rlqvp0a7kf.png)

Run (in the same project folder):

terraform output public_ip

If it says “no outputs found”, run:
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terraform refresh
terraform output


(That will display it.)

Then we test it

1) SSH into the server (Git Bash)

Your keypair name is terraform-key, so your file is likely on Desktop.

Run:
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chmod 400 ~/OneDrive/Desktop/terraform-key.pem
ssh -i ~/OneDrive/Desktop/terraform-key.pem ubuntu@34.229.201.13


If your key is in **Downloads** instead:
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chmod 400 ~/Downloads/terraform-key.pem
ssh -i ~/Downloads/terraform-key.pem ubuntu@34.229.201.13


2) Once you’re inside EC2: install Docker and run the proof app

Paste these **exactly**:
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sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get install -y docker.io
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker ubuntu
newgrp docker
docker run -d --name hello -p 80:80 nginx:alpine


Now open in your browser:

http://34.229.201.13

You should see the Nginx page ✅

![ ](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/284x0mgp2nyppdwk2obl.png)

**Destroy everything (from your Terraform folder)**

Make sure you’re in the **right folder**:
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cd ~/OneDrive/Desktop/project-3-terraform-aws




Run:

`terraform destroy`

Type:` yes`


This will remove:

- EC2 instance
- Security Group

2) Confirm it’s gone

After it completes, run:

`terraform output`


It should either show nothing useful or error because resources are gone.
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