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1 – Initialize Terraform

This tutorial shows you how to get started with Terraform. The tutorial uses an example scenario where you have a web server for your domain, accessible on 203.0.113.10, and you just signed up your domain (example.com) on Cloudflare to manage everything in Terraform.

Before you begin, ensure you have installed Terraform. You will also need to create an API Token with permissions to edit resources for this tutorial.

1. Define your first Terraform config file

Create an initial Terraform config file, filling in your own values for the API token, zone ID, account ID, and domain.

Terraform will process any files with a .tf extension. As the configuration becomes more complex, you will want to split the config into separate files and modules. For now, proceed with a single file.

Terminal window
cat > cloudflare.tf <<'EOF'
terraform {
  required_providers {
    cloudflare = {
      source = "cloudflare/cloudflare"
      version = "~> 4"
    }
  }
}


provider "cloudflare" {
  api_token = "<YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
}


variable "zone_id" {
  default = "<YOUR_ZONE_ID>"
}


variable "account_id" {
  default = "<YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID>"
}


variable "domain" {
  default = "<YOUR_DOMAIN>"
}


resource "cloudflare_record" "www" {
  zone_id = var.zone_id
  name    = "www"
  value   = "203.0.113.10"
  type    = "A"
  proxied = true
}
EOF

2. Initialize Terraform and the Cloudflare provider

After creating your basic configuration in HCL, initialize Terraform and ask it to apply the configuration to Cloudflare.

Terminal window
terraform init
Initializing provider plugins...
- Checking for available provider plugins on https://releases.hashicorp.com...
- Downloading plugin for provider "cloudflare" (1.0.0)...


The following providers do not have any version constraints in configuration,
so the latest version was installed.


To prevent automatic upgrades to new major versions that may contain breaking
changes, it is recommended to add version = "..." constraints to the
corresponding provider blocks in configuration, with the constraint strings
suggested below.


* provider.cloudflare: version = "~> 1.0"


Terraform has been successfully initialized!


You may now begin working with Terraform. Try running "terraform plan" to see
any changes that are required for your infrastructure. All Terraform commands
should now work.


If you ever set or change modules or backend configuration for Terraform,
rerun this command to reinitialize your working directory. If you forget, other
commands will detect it and remind you to do so if necessary.

When you run terraform init, any plugins required, such as the Cloudflare Terraform provider, are automatically downloaded and saved locally to a .terraform directory.

Terminal window
find .terraform/
.terraform/
.terraform/plugins
.terraform/plugins/darwin_amd64
.terraform/plugins/darwin_amd64/lock.json
.terraform/plugins/darwin_amd64/terraform-provider-cloudflare_v1.0.0_x4

3. Review the execution plan

After installing the Cloudflare provider, review the proposed changes to your Cloudflare account so they match the configuration you previously defined.

Terminal window
terraform plan
Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan.
Resource actions are indicated with the following symbols:
  + create


Terraform will perform the following actions:


  # cloudflare_record.www will be created
  + resource "cloudflare_record" "www" {
      + allow_overwrite = false
      + created_on      = (known after apply)
      + hostname        = (known after apply)
      + id              = (known after apply)
      + metadata        = (known after apply)
      + modified_on     = (known after apply)
      + name            = "www"
      + proxiable       = (known after apply)
      + proxied         = true
      + ttl             = (known after apply)
      + type            = "A"
      + value           = "203.0.113.10"
      + zone_id         = "e2e6491340be87a3726f91fc4148b126"
    }


Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


Note: You didn't use the -out option to save this plan, so Terraform can't
guarantee to take exactly these actions if you run "terraform apply" now.

As displayed in the execution plan, Terraform will create a new DNS record. The output shows the values that you explicitly specified, such as the value of the A record (203.0.113.10). Values shown as (known after apply) are derived based on other API calls (for example, looking up the metadata), or the values are returned after the object is created.

4. Apply your changes

The plan command is important because it allows you to preview the changes for accuracy before actually making them. After you review the execution plan, apply your changes.

You can use --auto-approve on the command line for a briefer output. Without this flag, Terraform will display the output of the Terraform plan and then ask for confirmation before applying it.

Terminal window
terraform apply --auto-approve
Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan.
Resource actions are indicated with the following symbols:
  + create


Terraform will perform the following actions:


  # cloudflare_record.www will be created
  + resource "cloudflare_record" "www" {
      + allow_overwrite = false
      + created_on      = (known after apply)
      + hostname        = (known after apply)
      + id              = (known after apply)
      + metadata        = (known after apply)
      + modified_on     = (known after apply)
      + name            = "www"
      + proxiable       = (known after apply)
      + proxied         = true
      + ttl             = (known after apply)
      + type            = "A"
      + value           = "203.0.113.10"
      + zone_id         = "e2e6491340be87a3726f91fc4148b126"
    }


Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.
cloudflare_record.www: Creation complete after 1s [id=c38d3103767284e7cd14d5dad3ab8668]


Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.

5. Verify the results

Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard ↗ and go to DNS > Records. The record created by Terraform appears in the records list.

To see the full results returned from the API call, including the default values that you did not specify but let Terraform compute, run terraform show.

Terminal window
terraform show
# cloudflare_record.www:
resource "cloudflare_record" "www" {
    id          = "c38d3103767284e7cd14d5dad3ab8668"
    created_on  = "2023-04-08T00:37:33.76321Z"
    data        = []
    domain      = "example.com"
    hostname    = "www.example.com"
    metadata    = [
        {
            auto_added      = false
            managed_by_apps = false
        }
    ]
    modified_on = "2023-04-08T00:37:33.76321Z"
    name        = "www"
    priority    = 0
    proxiable   = true
    proxied     = true
    ttl         = 1
    type        = "A"
    value       = "203.0.113.10"
    zone_id     = "e2e6491340be87a3726f91fc4148b126"
}
Terminal window
curl https://www.example.com
Hello, this is 203.0.113.10!