Terraform provider
A Terraform provider is a plugin that enables Terraform to manage resources and data sources on a specific infrastructure platform or service through its API.
Terraform in Depth: Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and OpenTofu
A provider server is the running implementation of a Terraform provider that serves provider operations to Terraform.
- How it is used
- Connects Terraform’s infrastructure configuration to vendor systems through resources, data sources, and functions.
- How deep it goes
- Explains installation and configuration, then develops provider interfaces and server testing without requiring users to learn gRPC.
- Examples
- Uses an AWS provider installation and a Mastodon configuration with an account lookup and post resource.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with Go and the Terraform Plugin Framework, or operate/configure an existing provider through its registry documentation.
Acing the CCNA Exam: Volume 2 Advanced Networking and Security
A Terraform provider is a plugin that implements resource-management interactions with a particular infrastructure or service platform.
- How it is used
- Connects Terraform Core to infrastructure platforms for declarative provisioning and resource management.
- How deep it goes
- Explains provider communication through APIs and state comparison, but does not detail provider implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses AWS, Azure, GCP, VMware vSphere, OpenStack, Kubernetes, Catalyst Center, ACI, and IOS XE as platform examples.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure infrastructure resources through Terraform configuration, planning, application, and provider APIs.
Bootstrapping Microservices, Second Edition: With Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and Terraform
A Terraform provider is a plugin that enables Terraform to interact with a specific infrastructure platform or service through its API.
- How it is used
- Extends Terraform so infrastructure code can target multiple cloud platforms and services.
- How deep it goes
- Explains declaration, version pinning, initialization, downloading, and caching, but does not detail provider implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses an Azure resource group, providers.tf, terraform init, the .terraform cache, and an azurerm version constraint.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure Terraform projects that download, constrain, and use providers for cloud infrastructure.
Google Anthos in Action
A Terraform provider is a plugin that maps Terraform resources and operations to an external platform's provisioning API.
- How it is used
- Maps declarative Terraform code to AWS provisioning APIs while instantiating GKE on AWS infrastructure.
- How deep it goes
- Defines providers and demonstrates their AWS role, but stops short of provider implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses the Terraform AWS provider to create GKE on AWS components and generate deployment configuration.
- What you can do after
- Operate/configure AWS infrastructure declaratively through Terraform-driven GKE on AWS installation workflows.
Read how Google Anthos in Action explains Terraform provider →
Related concepts
- root moduleconfigured by · A root module is the Terraform module defined by the configuration files in the current working directory and serving as the entry point for a Terraform operation.
- Terraformused by · Terraform is an open-source infrastructure-as-code tool for defining, provisioning, and managing infrastructure resources through declarative configuration.
- terraform initused by · terraform init is a Terraform command that initializes a working directory and installs or configures its required providers, modules, and backend.
- provider blockconfigured by · A provider block is a Terraform configuration block that configures a provider's settings, such as the target cloud region.
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