Deploying a VPC and EC2 Instance with Terraform

Goal

Provision a basic AWS infrastructure (VPC, Subnet, and EC2 instance) using Terraform.

Estimated time

45 minutes

Difficulty

Intermediate

Prerequisites

• An AWS account
• AWS CLI configured locally with appropriate credentials
• Terraform installed

Environment Setup

1. Open your terminal.
2. Create a new directory and navigate into it: mkdir terraform-lab && cd terraform-lab
3. Verify your AWS credentials are valid: aws sts get-caller-identity

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Define the Provider

Create a file named main.tf and define the AWS provider:

provider "aws" {
  region = "us-east-1"
}

Step 2: Create a VPC and Subnet

Append the following to main.tf:

resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
  cidr_block = "10.0.0.0/16"
}
 
resource "aws_subnet" "public" {
  vpc_id     = aws_vpc.main.id
  cidr_block = "10.0.1.0/24"
}

Step 3: Launch an EC2 Instance

Add an EC2 instance resource:

data "aws_ami" "ubuntu" {
  most_recent = true
  owners      = ["099720109477"]
 
  filter {
    name   = "name"
    values = ["ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-jammy-22.04-amd64-server-*"]
  }
}
 
resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = data.aws_ami.ubuntu.id
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
  subnet_id     = aws_subnet.public.id
}

Step 4: Apply the Configuration

1. Run terraform init to download the AWS provider.
2. Run terraform plan to see what resources will be created.
3. Run terraform apply and type yes to provision the resources.

Verification

Log into the AWS Management Console, navigate to the VPC and EC2 dashboards, and verify that your resources have been created in the us-east-1 region.

Troubleshooting

• If you get permission errors, ensure your AWS IAM user has sufficient privileges (e.g., AdministratorAccess for this lab).
• If Terraform cannot find the AMI, double-check the region and AMI filter in the data source.

Cleanup

Run terraform destroy and type yes to tear down all resources created during this lab and avoid unnecessary AWS charges.