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terraform-init Target

Initializes a Terraform workspace, downloading required providers and configuring the backend connection.

Usage​

nx run my-project:terraform-init

Description​

The terraform-init target initializes a Terraform workspace by:

  • Downloading required provider plugins
  • Configuring the backend connection
  • Preparing the workspace for Terraform operations

Dependencies​

Project Dependencies​

  • Backend Projects: No dependencies (backend projects manage their own state)
  • Stateful Projects: Depends on ^terraform-apply from the backend project (backend must be applied first)

Target Dependencies​

  • Automatically runs sync-terraform-metadata generator before initialization to ensure project metadata is up to date

Behavior​

Backend Projects​

  • Initializes with local or S3 backend configuration
  • Downloads providers specified in provider.tf
  • Prepares workspace for backend infrastructure deployment

Stateful Projects​

  • Reads backend.config from the referenced backend project
  • Configures backend connection using the backend project's configuration
  • Downloads providers specified in provider.tf
  • Prepares workspace for infrastructure deployment

Module Projects​

  • Initializes for validation purposes (modules don't have state)
  • Downloads providers for validation
  • Stub operation (modules are included in other projects)

Caching​

  • Backend Projects: ✅ Cached (backend projects don't depend on external state)
  • Stateful Projects: ❌ Not cached (state-dependent, requires backend access)
  • Module Projects: N/A (stub operation)

Examples​

Initialize Backend Project​

nx run terraform-setup:terraform-init

Initialize Stateful Project​

# Backend must be applied first
nx run terraform-setup:terraform-apply

# Then initialize infrastructure project
nx run my-infra:terraform-init

Initialize with Reconfiguration​

If you need to reconfigure the backend:

nx run my-infra:terraform-init -- -reconfigure

Common Use Cases​

  • First-time setup: Initialize a new Terraform project
  • After provider changes: Re-initialize when provider versions change
  • Backend changes: Re-initialize when backend configuration changes
  • Workspace reset: Re-initialize to reset workspace state
  • terraform-plan: Requires terraform-init to run first
  • terraform-apply: Requires terraform-init to run first
  • terraform-validate: Requires terraform-init to run first

Notes​

  • The target automatically runs sync-terraform-metadata before initialization
  • For stateful projects, the backend project must be applied before initialization
  • Provider downloads are cached locally by Terraform
  • Backend configuration is read from backend.config for stateful projects