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What you need before deploying
- An Azure subscription and permission to create the resources you declare.
- Terraform 1.2.0 or later and Azure CLI for the local workflow in HashiCorp’s Azure getting-started tutorial. These are that tutorial’s prerequisites, not a universal minimum for every current configuration.
- A region available to your subscription, and a plan for how Terraform will authenticate and store state.
For the tutorial’s local authentication path, sign in with Azure CLI by running az login and completing its prompts. Terraform needs valid Azure credentials to create infrastructure; CI systems and hosted Terraform runs need an identity flow configured for that environment rather than assuming a local CLI session.
Declare the AzureRM provider
Terraform providers are plugins that let Terraform manage a particular platform. In the root module, declare the provider source under required_providers, then configure the provider:
terraform {
required_version = ">= 1.1.0"
required_providers {
azurerm = {
source = "hashicorp/azurerm"
version = "~> 3.0.2"
}
}
}
provider "azurerm" {
features {}
}The source hashicorp/azurerm identifies the AzureRM provider in the public Terraform Registry. The azurerm block configures it; features {} is part of HashiCorp’s tutorial example. The tutorial’s ~> 3.0.2 provider constraint and Terraform >= 1.1.0 constraint are tutorial-specific examples, not current-version recommendations. Provider releases are independent of Terraform releases. Before reusing this configuration, consult the AzureRM provider documentation and Terraform provider requirements guidance to choose a compatible version constraint for your project. Constraining the provider helps avoid unexpectedly accepting an incompatible newer release.
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Define an Azure resource
A resource block specifies the provider resource type, a Terraform-local name, and the arguments needed to configure it. This example follows HashiCorp’s tutorial by creating a resource group:
resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" {
name = "myTFResourceGroup"
location = "westus2"
}azurerm_resource_group is the resource type and rg is its local name, so the Terraform address is azurerm_resource_group.rg. The example’s westus2 location is hardcoded; change it to a region available to your subscription. The resource group is a starting point, not a complete application deployment: add the AzureRM resource blocks for the services your configuration needs.
Initialize, check, plan, and apply
Run these commands from the directory containing your Terraform configuration:
terraform init— initializes the working directory and installs the required provider plugins.terraform fmt— formats Terraform configuration files consistently.terraform validate— checks configuration syntax and internal consistency.terraform plan— previews the changes Terraform proposes to make.terraform apply— carries out the proposed changes after you review and approve them.
Use the plan as a decision point, not as a formality. Check that Terraform is targeting the intended subscription and that the resource names, region, permissions, and proposed changes are expected before approving an apply. The commands and sample configuration here follow HashiCorp’s tutorial; they are not represented as independently tested.
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Choose credentials for where Terraform runs
Local development with Azure CLI
For the tutorial’s local path, authenticate with az login before running Terraform. This is convenient for an interactive developer session, but it is not a general credential strategy for unattended automation.
Hosted runs with OpenID Connect
HCP Terraform documents OpenID Connect (OIDC) dynamic credentials for hosted AzureRM or Microsoft Entra ID provider use. Setup involves establishing trust in Azure, configuring roles and policies, and setting workspace environment variables. The documented guide lists AzureRM 3.25.0 or later for this feature; check the current Azure dynamic-credentials documentation for requirements and setup details before implementing it.
Decide where Terraform state belongs
Terraform state records the relationship between the configuration and managed infrastructure. For a team or other shared workflow, HashiCorp’s AzureRM backend documentation describes storing state as a blob in an Azure Storage container, with locking and consistency checking.
Keep backend access distinct from AzureRM provider access. The provider credentials manage declared Azure resources; backend credentials let Terraform read and write the state blob. For the documented Entra ID approach, HashiCorp recommends the Storage Blob Data Contributor role on the container as a least-privilege data-plane permission.
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Avoid hardcoding credentials or passing sensitive values through -backend-config if that would leave them in local .terraform data or plan files. The backend guidance discourages access keys and SAS tokens for new workloads and suggests OIDC as a more secure approach. Supply credentials through a documented environment or identity flow and follow your organization’s secret-handling policy.
Check costs and deployment assumptions
HashiCorp says its introductory exercise can be completed using services included in an Azure free account, but that does not make every configuration free. Your subscription, selected resources, and usage determine whether charges apply. Check applicable resource pricing and subscription terms before approving the plan.
Before applying, verify the subscription, resource names, region, permissions, authentication method, provider constraint, and state location. These decisions depend on your environment; the tutorial’s example values are not a substitute for project-specific configuration.
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