Connection blocks for SSH in Terraform - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Connection blocks for SSH

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a Terraform configuration to manage a virtual machine in the cloud. To apply changes remotely, you need to configure SSH connection details so Terraform can connect to the VM securely.

🎯 Goal: Build a Terraform configuration that defines an SSH connection block with the correct parameters to connect to a remote server.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a resource block for a virtual machine named example_vm.

Add a connection block inside the resource with SSH details.

Use the exact variable names and values as specified.

Ensure the connection block includes type, host, user, and private_key.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Terraform uses connection blocks to securely connect to remote servers for provisioning and configuration management.

💼 Career

Understanding connection blocks is essential for infrastructure engineers and DevOps professionals managing cloud resources with Terraform.

1

Create a Terraform resource block for a virtual machine

Write a Terraform resource block named example_vm of type aws_instance with the ami set to "ami-12345678" and instance_type set to "t2.micro".

Terraform

# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the resource keyword followed by the resource type and name. Set the ami and instance_type attributes exactly as shown.

2

Add a connection block with SSH type

Inside the example_vm resource block, add a connection block with type set to "ssh".

Terraform

resource "aws_instance" "example_vm" {
  ami           = "ami-12345678"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"

  # Add connection block here
}

Need a hint?

The connection block goes inside the resource block. Set type = "ssh" exactly.

3

Add host, user, and private_key to the connection block

Inside the connection block, add host set to "${self.public_ip}", user set to "ubuntu", and private_key set to file("~/.ssh/id_rsa").

Terraform

resource "aws_instance" "example_vm" {
  ami           = "ami-12345678"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"

  connection {
    type = "ssh"
    # Add host, user, and private_key here
  }
}

Need a hint?

Use host = "${self.public_ip}" to refer to the instance's public IP. Set user and private_key exactly as shown.

4

Add a provisioner block using the connection

Add a provisioner block of type remote-exec inside the example_vm resource. Use the existing connection block and add a inline command to run echo Hello, Terraform!.

Terraform

resource "aws_instance" "example_vm" {
  ami           = "ami-12345678"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"

  connection {
    type        = "ssh"
    host        = "${self.public_ip}"
    user        = "ubuntu"
    private_key = file("~/.ssh/id_rsa")
  }

  # Add provisioner block here
}

Need a hint?

The provisioner block runs commands on the remote machine. Use inline with the exact echo command.