Course Introduction

Welcome to the Terraform on Azure course. I’m Rithin, and I’ll guide you step-by-step to design, deploy, and automate Azure infrastructure using Terraform — the industry-standard Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tool. This course takes a hands-on, learn-by-doing approach so you build real skills that translate directly into production environments and career growth. Why learn Terraform on Azure?

Create repeatable, version-controlled cloud infrastructure.
Automate deployments from local workstations to CI/CD pipelines.
Use Terraform’s HCL to express infrastructure intent clearly and reliably.
Apply best practices for state management, modular design, and collaboration.

Prerequisites

Basic familiarity with Azure concepts (subscriptions, resource groups, storage accounts).
Command-line experience (bash, PowerShell, or terminal).
Recommended: an Azure subscription for hands-on labs.

Quick start — Install Terraform (Debian/Ubuntu)

On Debian/Ubuntu-based systems use HashiCorp’s APT repository. Run:

# Add HashiCorp GPG key and repository, then install Terraform
wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install terraform -y

# Verify installation
terraform version

# Enable shell autocomplete (optional)
terraform --install-autocomplete
exec bash

If you are using macOS, Windows, or another Linux distribution, follow the platform-specific installation instructions on the official Terraform documentation: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/tutorials.

What you’ll learn — Course roadmap

Module	Focus	Example outcome
Foundations	IaC principles, Azure basics, provider setup	Authenticate Terraform to Azure
HCL & Providers	Resources, providers, configuration syntax	`provider "azurerm" { ... }`
Logic & Reuse	`count`, `for_each`, `locals`, dynamic blocks	Create multiple resources from one config
State Management	Remote state with Azure Storage, locking	Reliable team collaboration with state backend
Modules & Outputs	Organize infrastructure, share modules	Reusable resource modules and outputs
CI/CD	Azure DevOps pipelines, plan/apply automation	CI/CD pipeline for Terraform changes

Provider and a simple resource example

A minimal Azure provider and resource written in HCL:

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
  subscription_id = "1b228746-75fd-46ed-8a6b-6a9066d6d3a3"
}

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" {
  name     = "kodekloud-tf-rg"
  location = "East US"
}

This config declares the AzureRM provider and creates a resource group in East US.

Typical Terraform workflow — plan and apply

When you run Terraform, the common interaction is terraform plan followed by terraform apply. Example console output:

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

$ terraform apply
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:

  # azurerm_resource_group.rg will be created
  + resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" {
      + id       = (known after apply)
      + location = "East US"
      + name     = "kodekloud-tf-rg"
    }

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

Do you want to perform these actions?
Terraform will perform the actions described above.
Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve.

Enter a value: yes

Iteration, logic, and modular patterns

You’ll learn to make configurations dynamic with count, for_each, conditionals, locals, and built-in functions. Example network security rule resource in HCL:

resource "azurerm_network_security_rule" "rule2" {
  name                        = "allow-https"
  priority                    = 200
  direction                   = "Inbound"
  access                      = "Allow"
  protocol                    = "Tcp"
  source_port_range           = "*"
  destination_port_range      = "443"
  source_address_prefix       = "*"
  destination_address_prefix  = "*"
  resource_group_name         = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  network_security_group_name = azurerm_network_security_group.nsg.name
}

Use locals and dynamic blocks where patterns repeat to reduce duplication and improve maintainability.

Terraform state (why it matters)

State is the source of truth Terraform uses to map real-world resources to your configuration. In team environments, store state remotely (e.g., Azure Storage account with locking). Terraform state files are JSON; here’s a truncated example showing structure:

{
  "version": 4,
  "terraform_version": "1.5.7",
  "serial": 1,
  "lineage": "c62f9521-2fc2-a699-211f-ef1306c99896",
  "outputs": {},
  "resources": [
    {
      "mode": "managed",
      "type": "azurerm_storage_account",
      "name": "example",
      "provider": "provider[\"registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/azurerm\"]",
      "instances": [
        {
          "schema_version": 4,
          "attributes": {
            "access_tier": "Hot",
            "account_kind": "StorageV2",
            "account_replication_type": "LRS",
            "account_tier": "Standard",
            "allow_nested_items_to_be_public": true,
            "allowed_copy_scope": "",
            "azure_files_authentication": [],
            "blob_properties": {}
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Outputs and modules

Outputs expose computed values from modules or root configurations. Modules enable reuse and separation of concerns. Example output:

output "endpoint" {
  value = module.storage.endpoint
}

Example module usage:

module "rg" {
  source = "../modules/resource_group"
  rg     = var.rg_name
  region = var.location
}

module "storage" {
  source  = "../modules/storage_account"
  storage = "stdmstorager56535"
  rg      = module.rg.rg_name
  region  = module.rg.rg_location
  rep     = "LRS"
}

Sample apply output for modules:

$ terraform apply -auto-approve
module.rg.azurerm_resource_group.main: Still creating... [20s elapsed]
module.rg.azurerm_resource_group.main: Creation complete after 27s [id=/subscriptions/1b282746-75fd-46ed-8a6b-6a90666dd3a3/resourceGroups/kodekloud-tf-rg]
module.storage.azurerm_storage_account.this: Creating...
module.storage.azurerm_storage_account.this: Still creating... [10s elapsed]
module.storage.azurerm_storage_account.this: Still creating... [20s elapsed]
module.storage.azurerm_storage_account.this: Still creating... [30s elapsed]
module.storage.azurerm_storage_account.this: Still creating... [40s elapsed]
module.storage.azurerm_storage_account.this: Still creating... [50s elapsed]
module.storage.azurerm_storage_account.this: Creation complete after 1m5s [id=/subscriptions/1b282746-75fd-46ed-8a6b-6a90666dd3a3/resourceGroups/kodekloud-tf-rg/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/stdmstorager56535]
Apply complete! Resources: 2 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.
Outputs:

CI/CD with Terraform and Azure DevOps

We finish the course by integrating Terraform into CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or other CI systems). You’ll learn to automate:

terraform fmt, init, validate, plan
plan approval gates and manual checks
controlled terraform apply in production

This approach lets teams ship infrastructure changes safely and repeatedly. By the end of this module, you will be able to design,

The image shows an Azure DevOps interface with a repository named "Terraform on Azure" containing several files. In the bottom right corner, there's an overlay of a person from KodeKloud.

deploy, and automate Azure infrastructure with Terraform from your machine all the way to a production pipeline.

Community and next steps

At KodeKloud we value community learning. Join our forums to ask questions, share labs, and collaborate with peers. Build real projects, contribute modules, and iterate with feedback. Additional references

Terraform: https://www.terraform.io/
Terraform Azure Provider (azurerm): https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/azurerm
Azure Documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure

Ready to master Infrastructure-as-Code on Azure and accelerate your cloud career? Let’s get started.

Introduction

Infrastructure as Code Fundamentals

Terraform Cloud

Setting up environment

Azure Context for Terraform

HashiCorp Configuration Language

Terraform Providers

Variables

Outputs and Dependencies

Iteration and Logic

Advanced Constructs

Terraform State Fundamentals

Remote State

Terraform Workspaces

Terraform CLI

Lifecycle Meta-Arguments

Data Sources

Provisioners

Debugging Terraform

Terraform Modules

Azure DevOps Integration

Azure Pipelines for Terraform

Course Introduction

Prerequisites

Quick start — Install Terraform (Debian/Ubuntu)

What you’ll learn — Course roadmap

Provider and a simple resource example

Typical Terraform workflow — plan and apply

Iteration, logic, and modular patterns

Terraform state (why it matters)

Outputs and modules

CI/CD with Terraform and Azure DevOps

Community and next steps

Watch Video

​Prerequisites

​Quick start — Install Terraform (Debian/Ubuntu)

​What you’ll learn — Course roadmap

​Provider and a simple resource example

​Typical Terraform workflow — plan and apply

​Iteration, logic, and modular patterns

​Terraform state (why it matters)

​Outputs and modules

​CI/CD with Terraform and Azure DevOps

​Community and next steps

Watch Video

Prerequisites

Quick start — Install Terraform (Debian/Ubuntu)

What you’ll learn — Course roadmap

Provider and a simple resource example

Typical Terraform workflow — plan and apply

Iteration, logic, and modular patterns

Terraform state (why it matters)

Outputs and modules

CI/CD with Terraform and Azure DevOps

Community and next steps