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Use Terraform With Linode Object Storage
Traducciones al EspañolEstamos traduciendo nuestros guías y tutoriales al Español. Es posible que usted esté viendo una traducción generada automáticamente. Estamos trabajando con traductores profesionales para verificar las traducciones de nuestro sitio web. Este proyecto es un trabajo en curso.
Terraform is a powerful Infrastructure as Code (IaC) application for deploying and managing infrastructure. It can be used to add, modify, and delete resources including servers, networking elements, and storage objects. Linode has partnered with Terraform to provide an API to configure common Linode infrastructure items. This guide provides a brief introduction to Terraform and explains how to use it to create Linode Object Storage solutions.
What is Terraform?
Terraform is an open source product that is available in free and commercial editions. Terraform configuration files are declarative in form. The files describe the end state of the system and explain what to configure, but not how to configure it. Terraform files use either Terraform’s HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) or the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format to define the infrastructure. Both languages work well with Terraform because they are easy to use and read. Terraform uses a modular and incremental approach to encourage reuse and maintainability. It is available for macOS, Windows, and most Linux distributions.
Terraform uses providers to manage resources. A provider, which is very similar to an API, is typically created in conjunction with the infrastructure vendor. Terraform’s provider-based system allows users to create, modify, and destroy network infrastructure from different vendors. Developers can import these providers into their configuration files to help declare and configure their infrastructure components. Providers are available for most major vendors, including Linode . Terraform users can browse through a complete listing of the various providers in the Terraform Registry .
Linode offers a useful Beginner’s Guide to Terraform as an introduction to the main Terraform concepts. Additionally, Terraform documentation includes a number of Tutorials , including guides to the more popular providers.
How to Use Terraform
To use Terraform, create a file that defines the intended configuration of all network elements. This file includes a list of all required providers and data sources. A data source object provides access to a variety of methods and attributes about a particular infrastructure component. The file also fully describes the various resources, including servers and storage objects, that Terraform should create, manage, or delete.
Terraform files are written using either HCL or JSON as a text file with the .tf
extension. It is possible to use input variables, functions, and modules for greater flexibility, modularity, and maintainability. Users develop their configuration files on their own workstations, and use the Terraform client to push the configuration out to their network. The client relies upon implementation details from the providers to execute the changes.
Before applying the configuration, users should execute the terraform plan
command. This command generates a summary of all the intended changes. At this point, the changes have not yet been applied. This means the document can be safely revised or even abandoned if necessary.
When the Terraform plan is ready to implement, the terraform apply
command is used to deploy the changes. Terraform keeps track of all changes in an internal state file. This results in increased efficiency because only changes to the existing configuration are executed. New changes and modifications can be added to existing Terraform files without deleting the pre-existing resources. Terraform also understands the various dependencies between resources, and creates the infrastructure using the proper sequence.
Terraform can be used in a multi-developer environment in conjunction with a versioning control system. Developers can also build their own provider infrastructure for use instead of, or alongside, third-party providers. Terraform provides more details about how the product works and how to use it in their Introduction to Terraform summary .
Before You Begin
If you have not already done so, create a Linode account and Compute Instance. See our Getting Started with Linode and Creating a Compute Instance guides.
Follow our Setting Up and Securing a Compute Instance guide to update your system. You may also wish to set the timezone, configure your hostname, create a limited user account, and harden SSH access.
Ensure all Linode servers are updated. The following commands can be used to update Ubuntu systems.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
sudo
. If you are not familiar with the sudo
command, see the Users and Groups
guide.How to Download and Install Terraform
These instructions are geared towards Ubuntu 22.04 users, but are generally applicable to earlier Ubuntu releases. Instructions for other Linux distributions and macOS are available on the Terraform Downloads Portal . The following example demonstrates how to download and install the latest release of Terraform.
Install the system dependencies for Terraform.
sudo apt install software-properties-common gnupg2 curl
Import the GPG key.
curl -fsSL https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
Add the Hashicorp repository to
apt
.sudo apt-add-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main"
Download the updates for Terraform and install the application. This installs Terraform release 1.3.4, the most recent release.
sudo apt update && sudo apt install terraform
Get:1 https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com jammy/main amd64 terraform amd64 1.3.4 [19.5 MB] Fetched 19.5 MB in 0s (210 MB/s) Selecting previously unselected package terraform. (Reading database ... 109186 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../terraform_1.3.4_amd64.deb ... Unpacking terraform (1.3.4) ... Setting up terraform (1.3.4) ...
Confirm the application has been installed correctly. Use the
terraform
command without any parameters and ensure the Terraform help information is displayed.terraform
Usage: terraform [global options] <subcommand> [args] The available commands for execution are listed below. The primary workflow commands are given first, followed by less common or more advanced commands. Main commands: init Prepare your working directory for other commands ... -version An alias for the "version" subcommand.
To determine the current release of Terraform, use the
terraform -v
command.terraform -v
Terraform v1.3.4 on linux_amd64
Create a directory for the new Terraform project and change to this directory.
mkdir ~/terraform cd ~/terraform
Creating a Terraform File to Create Linode Object Storage
To deploy the necessary infrastructure for a Linode Object Storage solution, create a Terraform file defining the final state of the system. This file must include the following sections:
- The
terraform
definition, which includes the required providers. In this case, only the Linode provider is included. - The Linode provider.
- The
linode_object_storage_cluster
data source. - At least one
linode_object_storage_bucket
resource. A storage bucket provides a space to store files and text objects. - (Optional) A
linode_object_storage_key
. - A list of
linode_object_storage_object
items. An object storage object can be a text file or a string of text. All storage objects are stored in a particular object storage bucket.
To construct the Terraform file, execute the following instructions. For more information on how to create a Terraform file, see the Terraform documentation .
Create the file
linode-terraform-storage.tf
inside theterraform
directory.nano linode-terraform-storage.tf
At the top of the file, add a
terraform
section, including allrequired_providers
for the infrastructure. In this case, the only required provider islinode
. Set the source tolinode/linode
. Use the currentversion
of thelinode
provider. At publication time, the version is1.29.4
. To determine the current version, see the Linode Namespace in the Terraform Registry.- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
terraform { required_providers { linode = { source = "linode/linode" version = "1.29.4" } } }
Define the
linode
provider. Include the Linode v4 APItoken
for the account. See the Getting Started with the Linode API guide for more information about tokens.Note To hide sensitive information, such as API tokens, declare avariables.tf
file and store the information there. Retrieve the variables using thevar
keyword. See the Linode introduction to HCL for guidance on how to use variables.- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
10 11 12
provider "linode" { token = "THE_LINODE_API_TOKEN" }
Create a
linode_object_storage_cluster
data source. In the following code sample, the new cluster object is namedprimary
. Designate a region for the cluster using theid
attribute. In the following example, the region iseu-central-1
. The cluster object provides access to the domain, status, and region of the cluster. See the Terraform registry documentation for the Linode Object Storage Cluster data source for more information.Note Not all regions support storage clusters. For a full list of all data centers where a storage cluster can be configured, see the Linode Object Storage Product Information .- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
14 15 16
data "linode_object_storage_cluster" "primary" { id = "eu-central-1" }
Optional: Create a
linode_object_storage_key
to control access to the storage objects. Provide a name for the key and alabel
to help identify it.- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
18 19 20
resource "linode_object_storage_key" "storagekey" { label = "image-access" }
Create a
linode_object_storage_bucket
resource. Thecluster
attribute for the bucket must contain theid
of the cluster data source object. In this example, the cluster identifier can be retrieved using thedata.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary.id
attribute. Assign a uniquelabel
to the storage bucket. This label must be unique within the region, so ensure the label name is reasonably distinctive and unique. The following example sets thelabel
tomybucket-j1145
.Set the
access_key
andsecret_key
attributes to theaccess_key
andsecret_key
fields of the storage key. In the following example, the name of the key islinode_object_storage_key.storagekey
. If you skipped the previous step and are not using an object storage key, do not include these attributes.Note The Linode Object Storage Bucket resource contains many other configurable attributes. It is possible to set life cycle rules, versioning, and access control rules, and to associate the storage bucket with TLS/SSL certificates. For more information, see the Linode Object Storage Bucket documentation in the Terraform registry.- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
22 23 24 25 26 27
resource "linode_object_storage_bucket" "mybucket-j1145" { cluster = data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary.id label = "mybucket-j1145" access_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.access_key secret_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.secret_key }
Add items to the storage bucket. To add a file or a block of text to the bucket, create a
linode_object_storage_object
resource. Specify acluster
andbucket
to store the object in and akey
to uniquely identify the storage object within the cluster. To use a storage key, include thesecret_key
andaccess_key
of the storage key.To add a text file to storage, specify the file path as the
source
attribute using the following example as a guide. This example adds the fileterraform_test.txt
to the bucketmybucket-j1145
in clusterprimary
. For more information on adding storage objects, see the Linode Storage Object resource documentation .- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
resource "linode_object_storage_object" "object1" { bucket = linode_object_storage_bucket.mybucket-j1145.label cluster = data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary.id key = "textfile-object" secret_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.secret_key access_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.access_key source = pathexpand("~/terraform_test.txt") }
Optional: The storage bucket can also hold strings of text. To store a string, declare a new
linode_object_storage_object
, including thebucket
,cluster
, and storage key information as before. Choose a new unique key for the text object. Thecontent
attribute should be set to the text string. Fill in thecontent_type
andcontent_language
to reflect the nature of the text.- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51
resource "linode_object_storage_object" "object2" { bucket = linode_object_storage_bucket.mybucket-j1145.label cluster = data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary.id key = "freetext-object" secret_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.secret_key access_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.access_key content = "This is the content of the Object..." content_type = "text/plain" content_language = "en" }
When all sections have been added, the
.tf
file should resemble the following example.- File: /terraform/linode-terraform-storage.tf
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51
terraform { required_providers { linode = { source = "linode/linode" version = "1.29.4" } } } provider "linode" { token = "THE_LINODE_API_TOKEN" } data "linode_object_storage_cluster" "primary" { id = "eu-central-1" } resource "linode_object_storage_key" "storagekey" { label = "image-access" } resource "linode_object_storage_bucket" "mybucket-j1145" { cluster = data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary.id label = "mybucket-j1145" access_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.access_key secret_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.secret_key } resource "linode_object_storage_object" "object1" { bucket = linode_object_storage_bucket.mybucket-j1145.label cluster = data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary.id key = "textfile-object" secret_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.secret_key access_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.access_key source = pathexpand("~/terraform_test.txt") } resource "linode_object_storage_object" "object2" { bucket = linode_object_storage_bucket.mybucket-j1145.label cluster = data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary.id key = "freetext-object" secret_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.secret_key access_key = linode_object_storage_key.storagekey.access_key content = "This is the content of the Object..." content_type = "text/plain" content_language = "en" }
When done, press + X to exit nano, Y to save, and Enter to confirm.
Using Terraform to Configure Linode Object Storage
Terraform commands act upon the linode-terraform-storage.tf
file to analyze the contents and deploy the correct infrastructure. To create the Linode object storage infrastructure items in the file, run the following commands.
Initialize Terraform using the
terraform init
command. Terraform confirms it is initialized.terraform init
Initializing the backend... Initializing provider plugins... - Finding linode/linode versions matching "1.29.4"... - Installing linode/linode v1.29.4... - Installed linode/linode v1.29.4 (signed by a HashiCorp partner, key ID F4E6BBD0EA4FE463) ... Terraform has been successfully initialized! ...
Run the
terraform plan
command to gain an overview of the anticipated infrastructure changes. This plan catalogs the components Terraform intends to add, modify, or delete. It is important to review the output carefully to ensure the plan is accurate and there are no unexpected changes. If the results are not satisfactory, change the.tf
file and try again.terraform plan
data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary: Reading... data.linode_object_storage_cluster.primary: Read complete after 0s [id=eu-central-1] Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan. Resource actions are indicated with the following symbols: + create Terraform will perform the following actions: # linode_object_storage_bucket.mybucket-j1145 will be created + resource "linode_object_storage_bucket" "mybucket-j1145" { + access_key = (known after apply) + acl = "private" + cluster = "eu-central-1" + cors_enabled = true + hostname = (known after apply) + id = (known after apply) + label = "mybucket-j1145" + secret_key = (sensitive) + versioning = (known after apply) } # linode_object_storage_key.storagekey will be created + resource "linode_object_storage_key" "storagekey" { + access_key = (known after apply) + id = (known after apply) + label = "image-access" + limited = (known after apply) + secret_key = (sensitive value) } # linode_object_storage_object.object1 will be created + resource "linode_object_storage_object" "object1" { + access_key = (known after apply) + acl = "private" + bucket = "mybucket-j1145" + cluster = "eu-central-1" + content_type = (known after apply) + etag = (known after apply) + force_destroy = false + id = (known after apply) + key = "textfile-object" + secret_key = (sensitive) + source = "/home/username/terraform_test.txt" + version_id = (known after apply) } # linode_object_storage_object.object2 will be created + resource "linode_object_storage_object" "object2" { + access_key = (known after apply) + acl = "private" + bucket = "mybucket-j1145" + cluster = "eu-central-1" + content = "This is the content of the Object..." + content_language = "en" + content_type = "text/plain" + etag = (known after apply) + force_destroy = false + id = (known after apply) + key = "freetext-object" + secret_key = (sensitive) + version_id = (known after apply) } Plan: 4 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.
When all further changes to the
.tf
file have been made, useterraform apply
to deploy the changes. If any errors appear, edit the.tf
file and runterraform plan
andterraform apply
again. Terraform displays a list of the intended changes and asks whether to proceed.terraform apply
Plan: 4 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy. Do you want to perform these actions? Terraform will perform the actions described above. Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve. Enter a value:
Enter
yes
to continue. Terraform displays a summary of all changes and confirms the operation has been completed. If any errors appear, edit the.tf
file and run the commands again.yes
linode_object_storage_key.storagekey: Creating... linode_object_storage_key.storagekey: Creation complete after 3s [id=367232] linode_object_storage_bucket.mybucket-j145: Creating... linode_object_storage_bucket.mybucket-j1145: Creation complete after 6s [id=eu-central-1:mybucket-j1145] linode_object_storage_object.object1: Creating... linode_object_storage_object.object2: Creating... linode_object_storage_object.object1: Creation complete after 0s [id=mybucket-j1145/textfile-object] linode_object_storage_object.object2: Creation complete after 0s [id=mybucket-j1145/freetext-object] Apply complete! Resources: 4 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.
View the Object Storage summary page of the Linode Dashboard to ensure all objects have been correctly created and configured. Select the name of the Object Storage Bucket to view a list of all object storage objects inside the bucket. This page also allows you to download any files and text objects in the bucket.
Deleting and Editing the Linode Storage Objects
To delete the storage object configuration, use the terraform destroy
command. This causes Terraform to delete any objects listed in the Terraform files in the directory. For example, running terraform destroy
against the linode-terraform-storage.tf
file deletes all the storage clusters, buckets, keys, and storage objects. To delete only a subset of the configuration, edit the file so it only includes the objects to delete. Any objects that Terraform should retain must be removed from the file. Run the command terraform plan -destroy
first to obtain a summary of the objects Terraform intends to delete.
terraform plan -destroy
terraform destroy
To modify the contents of an object storage object, edit the .tf
file containing the configuration so it reflects the new configuration. Run terraform plan
to review the changes, then run terraform apply
. Terraform automatically makes the necessary changes. Use this command with caution because it might cause an object to be deleted and re-created rather than modified.
terraform plan
terraform apply
Configure Terraform to Store State on Linode Object Storage
Terraform uses state
on a backend
to log and track resource information. By default, state is stored locally in a file named terraform.tfstate
.
For steps on how to use Linode Object Storage as a remote backend to store state, see our guide Use Terraform to Provision Infrastructure on Linode .
Conclusion
Terraform is a powerful and efficient Infrastructure as Code (IaC) application. It automates the process of deploying infrastructure. To use Terraform, use the HCL or JSON formats to describe the final state of the network. Use the terraform plan
command from the Terraform client to preview the changes and terraform apply
to deploy the configuration.
The Linode Provider includes an API for configuring Linode Object Storage infrastructure . First declare the Linode provider and the Linode Object Storage Cluster data source. Define the object storage infrastructure using Linode object storage buckets , object storage keys , and object storage objects . The object storage objects are the files or strings of text to be stored. For more information on using Terraform, consult the Terraform documentation .
More Information
You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.
- Terraform
- Terraform Downloads Portal
- Terraform Provider Tutorials
- Introduction to Terraform
- HashiCorp Security page
- Terraform documentation
- Terraform Configuration Syntax
- Linode Namespace in Terraform Registry
- Linode Overview and Documentation in Terraform Registry
- Linode Object Storage Cluster data source
- Linode Object Storage Bucket documentation
- Linode Object Storage Objects documentation
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