Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and GitLab (FREE)

To manage your infrastructure with GitLab, you can use the integration with Terraform to define resources that you can version, reuse, and share:

Manage low-level components like compute, storage, and networking resources.
Manage high-level components like DNS entries and SaaS features.
Incorporate GitOps deployments and Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) workflows.
Use GitLab as a Terraform state storage.
Store and use Terraform modules to simplify common and complex infrastructure patterns.

Watch a video overview of the features GitLab provides with the integration with Terraform.

Integrate your project with Terraform

SAST test was introduced in GitLab 14.6.

The integration with GitLab and Terraform happens through GitLab CI/CD. Use an include attribute to add the Terraform template to your project and customize from there.

To get started, choose the template that best suits your needs:

Latest template
Stable template and advanced template

All templates:

Use the GitLab-managed Terraform state as the Terraform state storage backend.
Trigger four pipeline stages: test, validate, build, and deploy.
Run Terraform commands: test, validate, plan, and plan-json. It also runs the apply only on the default branch.
Run the Terraform SAST scanner.

Latest Terraform template

The latest template is compatible with the most recent GitLab version. It provides the most recent GitLab features, but can potentially include breaking changes.

You can safely use the latest Terraform template:

If you use GitLab.com.
If you use a self-managed instance updated with every new GitLab release.

Stable and advanced Terraform templates

If you use earlier versions of GitLab, you might face incompatibility errors between the GitLab version and the template version. In this case, you can opt to use one of these templates:

The stable template with an skeleton that you can built on top of.
The advanced template to fully customize your setup.

Use a Terraform template

To use a Terraform template:

On the top bar, select Menu > Projects and find the project you want to integrate with Terraform.
On the left sidebar, select Repository > Files.

Edit your .gitlab-ci.yml file, use the include attribute to fetch the Terraform template:

include:
 # To fetch the latest template, use:
  - template: Terraform.latest.gitlab-ci.yml
 # To fetch the stable template, use:
  - template: Terraform/Base.gitlab-ci.yml
 # To fetch the advanced template, use:
  - template: Terraform/Base.latest.gitlab-ci.yml

Add the variables as described below:

variables:
 TF_STATE_NAME: default
 TF_CACHE_KEY: default
 # If your terraform files are in a subdirectory, set TF_ROOT accordingly. For example:
 # TF_ROOT: terraform/production

(Optional) Override in your .gitlab-ci.yaml file the attributes present in the template you fetched to customize your configuration.

GitLab-managed Terraform state

Use the GitLab-managed Terraform state to store state files in local storage or in a remote store of your choice.

Terraform module registry

Use GitLab as a Terraform module registry to create and publish Terraform modules to a private registry.

Terraform integration in merge requests

Use the Terraform integration in merge requests to collaborate on Terraform code changes and Infrastructure-as-Code workflows.

The GitLab Terraform provider

NOTE: The GitLab Terraform provider is released separately from GitLab. We are working on migrating the GitLab Terraform provider to GitLab.com.

The GitLab Terraform provider is a plugin for Terraform to facilitate managing of GitLab resources such as users, groups, and projects. Its documentation is available on Terraform.

Create a new cluster through IaC

Learn how to create a new cluster on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).
Learn how to create a new cluster on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).