We use HashiCorp Terraform for Infrastructure as Code. It automates the deployment of infrastructure within the Azure platform. Terraform can manage almost all aspects of infrastructure provisioning. If there are tasks that Terraform cannot perform directly, you can use the Azure CLI or other tools and call them from within Terraform scripts.
IT Consultant at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
Has extensive integrations across various platforms
Pros and Cons
- "Terraform has extensive integrations across various platforms. It includes modules that enhance functionality and support for secure practices, such as Terraform Sentinel, which offers code analysis capabilities."
- "Terraform should monitor the backend storage more closely. You can handle it within Azure, but HashiCorp should release a dedicated tool to protect those secrets and ensure they're fully encrypted."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Terraform has extensive integrations across various platforms. It includes modules that enhance functionality and support for secure practices, such as Terraform Sentinel, which offers code analysis capabilities. Security logging and backend security are crucial, particularly regarding protecting sensitive information stored in the backend. Ensuring private endpoint usage is pivotal to safeguarding against potential vulnerabilities.
What is most valuable?
Terraform's strength lies in its modularity and the ability to use variables. You can organize your code within local and remote repositories, making it highly modular. This modularity allows you to call specific components as needed. Additionally, Terraform can toggle certain functionalities on or off through feature flags, a unique and powerful feature.
What needs improvement?
Terraform should monitor the backend storage more closely. You can handle it within Azure, but HashiCorp should release a dedicated tool to protect those secrets and ensure they're fully encrypted but this functionality is on its way for Terraform. They do have functionality that encrypts secrets and rotates which is great just like what Microsoft have and should be used in the wider community to safeguard public cloud systems
Buyer's Guide
HashiCorp Terraform
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about HashiCorp Terraform. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using HashiCorp Terraform for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is quite stable. You may not notice the updates, but you do see frequent changes in revisions because they've stabilized the platform. They've also introduced significant new versions and providers that work hand in hand with it. I don't encounter many errors that I can't fix straightforwardly. As an engineer, you receive error messages if you misconfigure things, and it informs you about that.
I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution can scale to any size. It is suitable for SMEs.
I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Arm templates where difficult to managed initially and took a while to manage in nested calls and nested templates
How was the initial setup?
The integration is straightforward. Simply download the binary, test it accordingly, and authenticate via Azure CLI. I've used the standard binary because it's free and widely adopted for technical infrastructure as code.
The initial setup is very straightforward. I set up a Python environment, brought in Terraform, and utilized it with YAML. Everything has to be securely done. You have to set up some pieces on the backend. It's straightforward to deploy: get the binary, set it up on the build agent, and configure the settings the way you need.
What about the implementation team?
Inhouse Initially but I have learnt form other teams and vendors as all teams structure their code differently with best practices
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using the free version of the solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Arm Templates and PowerShell Azure initially Pulumi (early days)
What other advice do I have?
I've been working with HashiCorp Terraform recently and have deployed environments with it.OpenAI has released GPT Terraform, which Microsoft is heavily investing in. Generic modules are available for deployment. Azure AI Portal and AI Studio are useful tools for creating models. It's straightforward to perform service training and update models for input-output data.
HashiCorp Terraform has made handling modules and variables more secure. They've integrated key vaults to ensure secrets and backend storage are protected. Accessing the backend storage could potentially leak sensitive information if not properly encrypted.
I'm using GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps. Additionally, I'm exploring an older system within the team that will be set up to support.
If the setup is built on old infrastructure, the backend of Terraform works and stores. Vagrant works differently where it doesn't need to check with the infrastructure to see what's there or updated. You get an API call for deployment.
Overall, I rate the solution as eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jun 28, 2024
Flag as inappropriateSenior FullStack Developer/Engineer/Architect at Capitbrok
Has good scalability and is easy to integrate
Pros and Cons
- "It is a stable solution."
- "They should include tutorials for understanding the use cases."
What is most valuable?
It is easy to architect cloud infrastructure using the solution. Also, its simple interface helps in developing specific scripts.
What needs improvement?
They should provide more tutorials to understand the solution's use cases. Also, they include more specific features into it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup process is straightforward. It takes a couple of weeks to complete. Once you define everything, you can start working on it right away. The deployment happens almost immediately.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend the solution to others. I rate it ten out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
HashiCorp Terraform
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about HashiCorp Terraform. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Infrastructure analyst specialized in cloud computing at IT2GO Solutions
Effective error avoidance, beneficial change identification, and deploys well
Pros and Cons
- "The state file is the most beneficial aspect of HashiCorp Terraform. It enables the retrieval and utilization of a previous state to build upon. This feature is particularly important since it allows for the identification of changes from the previous state, making the state file a critical component of the process."
- "When a misconfiguration or drift occurs, fixing the issue can be difficult. For instance, if there is a change in API calls while a script is running, it can be challenging to make corrections. This may require additional review and modifications to the code. I recall an instance where an industry budget creation process was altered, and it took significant time to amend the code. In fact, I had to add five or six different script portions to resolve the issue."
What is our primary use case?
We are using HashiCorp Terraform to deploy infrastructure for our customers in Amazon AWS.
How has it helped my organization?
Our process has been made more efficient with the use of HashiCorp Terraform. This includes the ability to create deployments while also avoiding errors and misconfigurations. With this solution, we can ensure consistency in the deployment of all our customers.
What is most valuable?
The state file is the most beneficial aspect of HashiCorp Terraform. It enables the retrieval and utilization of a previous state to build upon. This feature is particularly important since it allows for the identification of changes from the previous state, making the state file a critical component of the process.
What needs improvement?
When a misconfiguration or drift occurs, fixing the issue can be difficult. For instance, if there is a change in API calls while a script is running, it can be challenging to make corrections. This may require additional review and modifications to the code. I recall an instance where an industry budget creation process was altered, and it took significant time to amend the code. In fact, I had to add five or six different script portions to resolve the issue.
In a future update, it would be beneficial for HashiCorp Terraform to include a code-writing feature. There is the availability of third-party solutions, it would be preferable to have the ability to write code, create a plan, and receive feedback on what will be implemented. It would be great if the generated code was easily readable and viewable, as this would be an exciting addition.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using HashiCorp Terraform for approximately two years.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others is its crucial to handle key and access management properly because the most convenient method is to add your key to your computer's environment variables. However, this approach is not the most secure way to manage your keys. Therefore, exercise caution in this regard.
I rate HashiCorp Terraform a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior DevOps/Build Engineer at Dataart
A stable and scalable solution which allows one to easily work faster and set up new environments
Pros and Cons
- "The solution allows us to work faster with ease and to set up new environments and workspaces."
- "I would like to see a short-term option for a short-term plan."
What is our primary use case?
I use the latest version.
What is most valuable?
The solution allows us to work faster with ease and to set up new environments and workspaces.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see a short-term option for a short-term plan. The last few versions contain plans with very long output which have since been altered. When one receives a plan involving many changes, it will not be applied. Even should nothing need apply, there is a very long history which is not really useful, as many find its application confusing.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using HashiCorp Terraform for around five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is pretty stable. I have no issues in this regard.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is pretty scalable.
How are customer service and support?
As the solution is open source, support is community based.
How was the initial setup?
There is a need for configuration management, for setting up the infrastructure from scratch.
The set up process is pretty straightforward.
The duration of the deployment varies with the project. Our company is involved in many projects.
What about the implementation team?
There are between one and five people who are responsible for maintaining the solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I went with HashiCorp Terraform over that of CloudFormation, as the latter is complicated and hard to understand. HashiCorp Terraform was easier to learn across platforms, regions and multi-clouds.
What other advice do I have?
I use the latest version. It is important to try to not repeat oneself and to utilize the module provided by HashiCorp and others for training purposes.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Azure DevOps Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Useful to provision cloud resources on Azure, AWS, and GCP platforms
Pros and Cons
- "What I like best is how easy the tool is to use. The HashiCorp Terraform language syntax is simple to learn. The Terraform.io registry feature is very useful - we can refer to our code and use pre-created modules posted there."
- "One area for improvement is real-time syncing with the actual infrastructure. Currently, you have to run CLI commands to sync the state file."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution to provision cloud resources on Azure, AWS, and GCP platforms.
What is most valuable?
What I like best is how easy the tool is to use. The HashiCorp Terraform language syntax is simple to learn. The Terraform.io registry feature is very useful - we can refer to our code and use pre-created modules posted there.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement is real-time syncing with the actual infrastructure. Currently, you have to run CLI commands to sync the state file.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the tool an eight out of ten. Sometimes, it can break down when handling too many resource creations at once due to dependency issues.
How are customer service and support?
I've contacted the support team a few times when getting errors.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup and deployment are also easy, especially when using the tool's code to deploy to cloud platforms.
What was our ROI?
The tool is worth the money.
What other advice do I have?
While it's easy to learn, you need experience with the HashiCorp Terraform language syntax to use it. I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Aug 30, 2024
Flag as inappropriateExecutive Vice PresidentExecutive at a government with 10,001+ employees
It integrates well with other products and is simple to install and maintain
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable aspect of this solution is the coding of our infrastructure. You can code it once and run it multiple times."
- "There is always room for improvement somewhere. I don't know everything about the product."
What is our primary use case?
We use HashiCorp Terraform to deploy applications and infrastructures.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect of this solution is the coding of our infrastructure. You can code it once and run it multiple times.
It works great for us.
We have had no issues integrating with other products.
It does everything we need it to do.
What needs improvement?
There is always room for improvement somewhere. I don't know everything about the product.
I read about the improvements and the different things that are coming out all of the time. They continue to maintain it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with HashiCorp Terraform for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
HashiCorp Terraform is very stable. Once you have coded it, it is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The HashiCorp Terraform solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I have not contacted technical support. I have not needed it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
It is very simple to maintain.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not aware of the cost, my customer deals with that.
What other advice do I have?
I would suggest going for it. I have not had any issue with it yet.
I would rate HashiCorp Terraform a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
DevOps Engineer at IOTANS
Useful automation, advantageous managerial capabilities, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of HashiCorp Terraform are automation and management capabilities."
- "HashiCorp Terraform could improve the integration with the VCloud Director. When we manage the VCloud Director we end up wasting our time when creating virtual machines. HashiCorp Terraform knows about these issues and I think there might be a workaround but they should incorporate the fix in an upcoming release."
What is our primary use case?
HashiCorp Terraform is a binary executable file, that you can download to your PC and manage any cloud solution in the world, such as Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, OpenStack, CloudStack, or VMware. When you use DevOps in your company, it's a useful tool for it.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of HashiCorp Terraform are automation and management capabilities.
What needs improvement?
HashiCorp Terraform could improve the integration with the VCloud Director. When we manage the VCloud Director we end up wasting our time when creating virtual machines. HashiCorp Terraform knows about these issues and I think there might be a workaround but they should incorporate the fix in an upcoming release.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using HashiCorp Terraform for approximately one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
HashiCorp Terraform is a stable solution. We did not have any problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of HashiCorp Terraform is good.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used the technical support from HashiCorp Terraform.
How was the initial setup?
HashiCorp Terraform tool is pre-installed on our DevOps engineer's laptops, and in our GitLab Servers. We assign it to a selection of virtual machines. We just run it, and then we perform some functions, such as creating systems or modifying CPUs or RAM.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation of HashiCorp Terraform in-house. We have a good team of three programmers and DevOps engineers with experience.
We used one engineer for the implementation of HashiCorp Terraform.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
HashiCorp Terraform is a free solution.
What other advice do I have?
I rate HashiCorp Terraform a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Information Technology System Analyst at YAUSH Technologies
Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable with good support and many useful features
Pros and Cons
- "The state backend, automated describe functionality, modular structures, and variablization using templates are most valuable."
- "The state locking functionality can be improved. In certain situations, we have to force-unlock the state, which sometimes does not work. When that happens, we have to manually go to the state backend and remove that particular state, which is kind of a cumbersome process. It should also have more functions, more expressions, and support for more products."
What is our primary use case?
We are using it for infrastructure as code automation. We are running its latest version.
What is most valuable?
The state backend, automated describe functionality, modular structures, and variablization using templates are most valuable.
What needs improvement?
The state locking functionality can be improved. In certain situations, we have to force-unlock the state, which sometimes does not work. When that happens, we have to manually go to the state backend and remove that particular state, which is kind of a cumbersome process.
It should also have more functions, more expressions, and support for more products.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for almost four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has good stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is good in terms of scalability. We have almost 35 to 40 users. We definitely plan to increase its usage.
How are customer service and technical support?
We did interact with their technical support. It was easy to schedule a call with them. It was also easy to contact their sales team and the support team. It was definitely a good experience.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had AWS CloudFormation as well as Azure ARM templates.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is quite good and simple. It didn't take more than one and a half hours.
What about the implementation team?
I did it myself. We have four people for its maintenance. We have one admin and three deployers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
They have given it to us at a monthly cost, but it is on a yearly basis.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise others to understand the state backend and how Terraform works. They should also go through functions as well as expressions in the Terraform official documentation.
I would rate HashiCorp Terraform an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free HashiCorp Terraform Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
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Updated: October 2024
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