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Skillsterraform-cli-setup

terraform-cli-setup

Deployment & operations

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Updated 10-15 20:24

About this skill

Category: setup

Terraform CLI installation and initialization

Objective

  • Detect whether terraformis already installed locally; if not installed, install automatically
  • Ensure terraform version outputs normally
  • Guide through completing terraform init workspace initialization
  • Handle basic environment issues such as Provider downloads and mirror configuration

About Provider credential configuration: Credential configuration for various cloud providers (AWS/Azure/GCP/Alibaba Cloud, etc.) is outside the scope of this skill. Provider credentials should be configured as needed when actually using Terraform; please refer to terraform-skill for guidance on Provider credential configuration.

When to trigger this skill

  • The user is using Terraform-related features for the first time
  • Error when executing terraform command command not found
  • terraform init reports Provider download failure (network/mirror issue)
  • The user proactively requests to install or reinstall Terraform
  • Prerequisite dependency check for other Terraform skills (terraform-skill)

Complete workflow

Step 1: Detect installation status

which terraform 2>/dev/null || echo "NOT_INSTALLED"

If not installed, proceed to the installation workflow. If already installed, skip to Step 3.

Step 2: Install Terraform

macOS (Homebrew — recommended)

brew tap hashicorp/tap
brew install hashicorp/tap/terraform

macOS (manual download)

ARCH=$(uname -m)
case "$ARCH" in
    x86_64|amd64) ARCH="amd64" ;;
    arm64|aarch64) ARCH="arm64" ;;
esac
curl -fsSL "https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/1.14.6/terraform_1.14.6_darwin_${ARCH}.zip" -o /tmp/terraform.zip
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
unzip -o /tmp/terraform.zip -d ~/.local/bin/
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/terraform
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Linux (manual download)

ARCH=$(uname -m)
case "$ARCH" in
    x86_64|amd64) ARCH="amd64" ;;
    arm64|aarch64) ARCH="arm64" ;;
esac
curl -fsSL "https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/1.14.6/terraform_1.14.6_linux_${ARCH}.zip" -o /tmp/terraform.zip
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
unzip -o /tmp/terraform.zip -d ~/.local/bin/
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/terraform
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Linux (APT — Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y gnupg software-properties-common
wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | \
  gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] \
  https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install terraform

Linux (YUM — RHEL/CentOS/Fedora)

sudo yum install -y yum-utils
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://rpm.releases.hashicorp.com/RHEL/hashicorp.repo
sudo yum -y install terraform

Verify after installation:

terraform version

Step 3: Initialize the Terraform workspace

In a directory that has a .tf file, execute:

terraform init

terraform init will perform:

  1. Initialize Backend — configure state storage (local by default)
  2. Install Provider plugins — download the Providers declared in .tf Provider declared in
  3. Download modules — fetch referenced remote modules
  4. Create lock file — generate .terraform.lock.hcl to lock versions

Common init options:

# 升级 Provider 和模块到约束范围内的最新版本
terraform init -upgrade

# 重新配置 Backend
terraform init -reconfigure

# 迁移 State 到新 Backend
terraform init -migrate-state

Step 4: Verify installation and initialization

# 检查版本
terraform version

# 检查配置文件语法（需要先 init）
terraform validate

# 格式化代码
terraform fmt -check

Verification result judgment:

Output Meaning Handling method
Terraform vX.Y.Z Version is normal Installation successful
Success! The configuration is valid. validate passes Initialization complete
Error: Failed to query available provider packages Provider download failed Check network or configure mirror
Error: Inconsistent dependency lock file Lock file inconsistent Execute terraform init -upgrade
Error: Module not installed Module not downloaded Execute terraform init
Error: No valid credential sources found Provider credentials missing Refer to terraform-skill configure credentials

Automation script

This skill provides scripts/setup_terraform.py, used for one-click detection + installation (execute from this skill's directory):

python scripts/setup_terraform.py

This script will:

  1. Detect whether terraform is already installed
  2. If not installed, automatically download and install based on OS/Arch (prefer Homebrew on macOS)
  3. Output version information to confirm successful installation

Agent decision guide

When you (AI Agent) execute this skill, operate according to the following decision tree:

开始
 │
 ├── which terraform → 未找到?
 │     └── 根据操作系统自动选择最佳安装方式（无需询问用户）
 │           ├── macOS → 优先 brew install，brew 不可用则手动下载
 │           └── Linux → 优先手动下载 zip，检测到 apt/yum 则用包管理器
 │
 ├── terraform version → 正常输出?
 │     └── 是 → ✅ Terraform 已就绪
 │
 ├── 当前目录有 .tf 文件?
 │     ├── 是 → terraform init
 │     │      ├── 成功 → terraform validate
 │     │      │      ├── 成功 → ✅ 初始化完成
 │     │      │      └── 失败 → 根据错误信息自动判断修复方案并执行
 │     │      └── Provider 下载失败 → 自动配置阿里云镜像源并重试
 │     └── 否 → ✅ 安装完成，等用户创建 .tf 文件后再 init
 │
 └── 遇到 Provider 凭证错误?
       └── 引导用户参考 terraform-skill 进行凭证配置

Automatic Decision-Making Principles

Important: When executing this skill, the Agent shouldautomatically determine and select the most suitable solution and configuration, without asking the user, and execute directly.

Automatic Installation Method Selection Logic

Operating System Condition Automatic Selection
macOS which brew exists brew install hashicorp/tap/terraform
macOS brew unavailable Manually download the zip for the corresponding architecture and install it to ~/.local/bin
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) which apt-get exists APT installation
Linux (RHEL/CentOS) which yum exists YUM installation
Linux (other) No package manager Manually download and install the zip

Automatic Handling of Provider Download Failure

When terraform init fails due to Provider download failure,automatically configure the Alibaba Cloud mirrorand retry:

cat > ~/.terraformrc << 'EOF'
provider_installation {
  network_mirror {
    url = "https://mirrors.aliyun.com/terraform/"
  }
}
EOF
terraform init

Automatic Fix for init Errors

Error Type Automatic Fix Operation
Inconsistent dependency lock file Automatically execute terraform init -upgrade
Module not installed Automatically execute terraform init
Plugin reinitialization required Automatically execute terraform init -upgrade
Backend initialization required Automatically execute terraform init
Provider credential error Guide the user to refer to terraform-skill to configure credentials

Execution Principles

  1. All scenarios that can be automatically determinedare directly handled by the Agent, which automatically selects the optimal solution based on environment detection results and executes it without asking the user
  2. The installation method is automatically determined based on the operating system and available toolchain
  3. Error fixes automatically match the best repair strategy based on the error type
  4. Mirror configuration defaults to the Alibaba Cloud mirror
  5. Only in extreme cases where the user must provide sensitive information (such as credentials) or automatic decision-making is impossible should the Agent explain to the user in plain text

Terraform China Mirror Configuration

Downloading Providers in domestic network environments may be slow; a mirror can be configured.

Create or edit ~/.terraformrc：

# 阿里云镜像
provider_installation {
  network_mirror {
    url = "https://mirrors.aliyun.com/terraform/"
  }
}

or the Tencent Cloud mirror:

provider_installation {
  network_mirror {
    url = "https://mirrors.tencent.com/terraform/"
  }
}

Quick Fixes for Common Issues

Issue Quick Fix
command not found: terraform brew install hashicorp/tap/terraform or refer to the installation process
Error: Failed to query available provider packages Check the network connection, or configure the Terraform Registry mirror
Error: Backend initialization required Execute terraform init
Error: Plugin reinitialization required Execute terraform init -upgrade
Error: Inconsistent dependency lock file Execute terraform init -upgrade update the lock file
Error: state snapshot was created by Terraform vX.Y.Z Upgrade the Terraform version
Error: Module not installed Execute terraform init or terraform get
Provider download timeout Configure the Terraform Registry mirror (see above)
Error: No valid credential sources found This is a Provider credential issue; refer to terraform-skill

Configuration File Locations

File Location Description
CLI configuration ~/.terraformrc（macOS/Linux） Global CLI configuration (mirrors, etc.)
Provider cache ~/.terraform.d/plugins/ Cache of downloaded Provider plugins
Workspace Provider .terraform/providers/ Provider plugins for the current workspace
Lock file .terraform.lock.hcl Provider version locking (should be committed to Git)
State file terraform.tfstate Local state file (should not be committed to Git)

Relationship with other skills

Skill Responsibilities
terraform-cli-setup(this skill) Basic environment for Terraform CLI installation, init, mirror configuration, etc.
terraform-skill Actual use of Terraform: writing configurations, Provider credential configuration, module development, testing, CI/CD

About Alibaba Cloud ROS: Alibaba Cloud Resource Orchestration Service (ROS) has no standalone CLI tool; it is used directly through aliyun ros <API> using aliyun-cli. If you need to use ROS, please ensure aliyun-cli is installed (refer to the alicloud_cli skill).

Interaction Tips

Important Notes: When using this skill, please follow these rules:

  1. Automatic decision-making takes priority: For scenarios such as installation methods, mirror selection, and error handling, the Agent should automatically select the optimal solution based on environment detection results and execute it directly, without asking the user questions
  2. Briefly explain to the user what is being done and why during execution, maintaining information transparency
  3. Only ask the user when sensitive information that cannot be obtained automatically (such as credentials) is needed
  4. When encountering an error, first automatically attempt to fix it; if the fix fails, then explain the situation to the user and provide suggestions

References