Local-exec provisioner in Terraform - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Using Local-exec Provisioner in Terraform

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a simple cloud server using Terraform. After the server is created, you want to run a local script on your machine to notify you that the server is ready.

🎯 Goal: Build a Terraform configuration that creates a resource and uses the local-exec provisioner to run a local command after resource creation.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Terraform resource block for a null resource named example

Add a local-exec provisioner inside the resource

Configure the provisioner to run the exact command echo Server is ready

Ensure the Terraform configuration is valid and deployable

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Local-exec provisioners are useful for running scripts or commands on your local machine after cloud resources are created, such as sending notifications or updating local files.

💼 Career

Understanding provisioners helps cloud engineers automate deployment workflows and integrate Terraform with other tools and scripts.

1

Create a null resource named example

Write a Terraform resource block for a null_resource named example with an empty body.

Terraform

resource "null_resource" "example" {
  # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

The null_resource is a special Terraform resource that does nothing but can be used with provisioners.

2

Add a local-exec provisioner block

Inside the null_resource "example" block, add a provisioner "local-exec" block with an empty command attribute.

Terraform

resource "null_resource" "example" {
  provisioner "local-exec" {
    # Your code here
  }
}

Need a hint?

The local-exec provisioner runs commands on your local machine after resource creation.

3

Set the command to echo Server is ready

Set the command attribute inside the local-exec provisioner to the exact string echo Server is ready.

Terraform

resource "null_resource" "example" {
  provisioner "local-exec" {
    # Your code here
  }
}

Need a hint?

This command will print a message on your local machine when the resource is created.

4

Add a triggers argument to force re-execution

Add a triggers argument inside the null_resource "example" block with a map containing always_run = timestamp() to ensure the provisioner runs every time.

Terraform

resource "null_resource" "example" {
  provisioner "local-exec" {
    command = "echo Server is ready"
  }
  # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

The triggers argument with timestamp() forces Terraform to run the provisioner every time you apply.