Day 26 focuses on HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) / Terraform Cloud and why it is essential for managing Terraform at scale in real-world environments.
Running Terraform only from the CLI creates challenges around state management, secrets, automation, governance, and collaboration.
This session demonstrates how Terraform Cloud solves those problems with a managed, secure, and automated workflow.
This is how Terraform is used in production teams, not just locally.
🧠 Why Terraform Cloud Is Needed
Problems with CLI-only Terraform:
❌ Secrets stored locally or in environment variables
❌ Manual terraform plan / apply
❌ No built-in CI/CD
❌ No shared state or team visibility
❌ Hard to manage multiple environments
❌ No approval workflows for production
Terraform Cloud fixes this by providing:
✅ Encrypted remote state
✅ Secure variable & secret storage
✅ GitHub/GitLab integration
✅ Automated runs on code changes
✅ Manual approval gates
✅ Centralized logs & auditability
🏗 Terraform Cloud Architecture
Hierarchy used in Terraform Cloud:
Organization
└── Projects
└── Workspaces
└── Terraform Code
Organization → Company or personal account
Project → Logical grouping (App, Team, Cloud, Business Unit)
Workspace → Actual Terraform execution unit
🔁 Supported Workflows
1️⃣ Version Control Workflow (Recommended)
Terraform runs automatically when code is pushed
Plan and apply executed in Terraform Cloud
Full GitOps-style workflow
Best for:
Teams
Production environments
Audited infrastructure
2️⃣ CLI-Driven Workflow
Run Terraform locally
State and execution happen in Terraform Cloud
Logs visible in UI
Best for:
Local development
Migration from CLI to cloud workflows
3️⃣ API-Driven Workflow
Trigger Terraform runs via APIs
Used in advanced automation pipelines
🔐 Secure Credential Management
AWS keys stored as encrypted workspace variables
No credentials inside .tf files
No secrets in GitHub repositories
Environment variables handled securely by Terraform Cloud
⚙️ Manual Approval vs Auto Apply
Auto Apply
Useful for dev/test
Faster feedback loops
Manual Approval
Mandatory for production
Prevents accidental destruction
Strong governance control
🧪 Hands-On Demonstrations
✔ Creating Organization, Projects, and Workspaces
✔ Running Terraform via GitHub commits
✔ Handling missing AWS credentials in Terraform Cloud
✔ Switching between auto-apply and manual approval
✔ CLI integration using terraform login
✔ Resolving Terraform version mismatches
🏁 Conclusion
Day 26 marks the transition from individual Terraform usage to enterprise-grade Terraform workflows.
Terraform Cloud is not optional at scale — it is a requirement for:
Security
Automation
Collaboration
Governance
Reliability
This is how Terraform is actually used in real production environments.
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