Cloud Shell

Use the Azure Cloud Shell if you are looking for the quickest way to run Terraform on Azure.

Overview

Azure Cloud Shell is a browser-based shell that provides access to various tools and services for managing Azure resources, and includes common binaries including git, az, jq and terraform in its container image.

The Cloud Shell is ideal for quick demos, small test and dev projects, or for training groups. Many of the labs on this site assume Cloud Shell as it simplifies the pre-reqs.

Pros:

Cloud Shell includes a recent version of Terraform
Cloud Shell will automatically authenticate
Cloud Shell saves the state file in Azure Storage blob
Cloud Shell has the Monaco editor, with syntax highlighting for HCL files

Cons:

Single user only; not designed for teams
No control over Terraform version
No sudo
Unsuited to long sessions due to timeouts

Accessing Cloud Shell

Access the Azure Cloud Shell via >_ at the top of the Azure portal or via https://shell.azure.com.

Open Cloud Shell

These labs assume the Bash experience.

Upon first use, you’ll be prompted to create the Storage Account used to persist the home directory and cloudshell mount.
Check your subscription context.
```
az account show
```
Check that you are in the right subscription or switch.

Note that the command output includes user.cloudShellID: true. It is assumed that you have Owner or Contributor on the subscription.

Create example files

We’ll run through a quick example, creating a resource group.

Make a working directory
```
mkdir terraform-envs
```
Switch to it
```
cd ~/terraform-envs
```

Create empty files

touch provider.tf variables.tf main.tf outputs.tf

List the files
```
ls -l
```
Open the editor
```
code .
```
Select the provider.tf file in the file explorer pane

Note that the filename is now shown above the editing pane.

Paste the code below in the editing pane on the right

provider.tf

terraform {
  required_providers {
    azurerm = {
      source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
      version = ">=3.50.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
}

Use CTRL+V to paste, or CTRL+SHIFT+V to paste as text.

Note the syntax highlighting.

Monaco editor in Azure Cloud Shell

Save

Press CTRL+S to save.

Unsaved files have a dot on the filename tab. This will disappear once saved.

Repeat for the other files

variables.tf

variable "resource_group_name" {
  description = "Name for the resource group."
  type        = string
  default     = "myExampleResourceGroup"
}

variable "location" {
  description = "Azure region."
  type        = string
  default     = "UK South"
}

main.tf

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "example" {
  name     = var.resource_group_name
  location = var.location
}

outputs.tf

output "id" {
  value = azurerm_resource_group.example.id
}

Don’t forget to use CTRL+S.

Terraform workflow

Run through the standard Terraform workflow.

Initialise
```
terraform init
```
The azurerm provider will be downloaded locally.
Plan
```
terraform plan
```
The config plan shows a single resource group in uksouth called myExampleResourceGroup.
Apply
```
terraform apply
```
Respond “yes” when prompted to create the empty resource group.
Destroy
```
terraform destroy
```
The resource group is removed.

Summing up

Cloud Shell is great for the quick and dirty work, and for use in training. It has most of what you need, and is always accessible if you have a network connection.

However, if you are doing a lot of work then you may want a fuller setup directly on your machine. In the next environment we’ll

install a set of tools
deploy using a service principal
store the state file in Azure

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