Quickstart: Create a VM instance using Terraform

Prepare the environment

1. Clone the GitHub repository containing Terraform samples:

    git  
   clone  
   https://github.com/terraform-google-modules/terraform-docs-samples.git  
   --single-branch 
   

2. Go to the directory that contains the quickstart sample:

     cd 
     
   terraform-docs-samples/compute/quickstart/create_vm 
   

Review the Terraform files

Review the main.tf file. This file defines the Google Cloud resources that you want to create.

 cat  
main.tf 

The output is similar to the following

 resource "google_compute_instance" "default" {
  name         = "my-vm"
  machine_type = "n1-standard-1"
  zone         = "us-central1-a"

  boot_disk {
    initialize_params {
      image = "ubuntu-minimal-2210-kinetic-amd64-v20230126"
    }
  }

  network_interface {
    network = "default"
    access_config {}
  }
} 

This file describes the google_compute_instance resource , which is the Terraform resource for the Compute Engine VM instance. google_compute_instance is configured to have the following properties:

• name is set to my-vm .
• machine_type is set to n1-standard-1 .
• zone is set to us-central1-a .
• boot_disk sets the boot disk for the instance.
• network_interface is set to use the default network in your Google Cloud project.

Create the Compute Engine VM instance

1. In Cloud Shell, run the following command to verify that Terraform is available:

    terraform 
   

   The output should be similar to the following:

    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  
   validate  
   Check  
   whether  
   the  
   configuration  
   is  
   valid  
   plan  
   Show  
   changes  
   required  
   by  
   the  
   current  
   configuration  
   apply  
   Create  
   or  
   update  
   infrastructure  
   destroy  
   Destroy  
   previously-created  
   infrastructure 
   

2. Initialize Terraform by running the following command. This command prepares your workspace so Terraform can apply your configuration.

    terraform  
   init 
   

   The output should be similar to the following:

    Initializing  
   the  
   backend...
   
   Initializing  
   provider  
   plugins...
   -  
   Finding  
   latest  
   version  
   of  
   hashicorp/google...
   -  
   Installing  
   hashicorp/google  
   v5.35.0...
   -  
   Installed  
   hashicorp/google  
   v5.35.0  
    ( 
   signed  
   by  
   HashiCorp ) 
   Terraform  
   has  
   created  
   a  
   lock  
   file  
   .terraform.lock.hcl  
   to  
   record  
   the  
   provider
   selections  
   it  
   made  
   above.  
   Include  
   this  
   file  
    in 
     
   your  
   version  
   control  
   repository
   so  
   that  
   Terraform  
   can  
   guarantee  
   to  
   make  
   the  
   same  
   selections  
   by  
   default  
   when
   you  
   run  
    "terraform init" 
     
    in 
     
   the  
   future.
   
   Terraform  
   has  
   been  
   successfully  
   initialized! 
   

3. Validate the Terraform configuration by running the following command. This command takes the following actions:

   • Verifies that the syntax of main.tf is correct.
   • Shows a preview of the resources that will be created.

    terraform  
   plan 
   

   The output should be similar to the following:

    Plan:  
    1 
     
   to  
   add,  
    0 
     
   to  
   change,  
    0 
     
   to  
   destroy.
   
   Note:  
   You  
   didn 't use the -out option to save this plan, so Terraform can' 
   t
   guarantee  
   to  
   take  
   exactly  
   these  
   actions  
    if 
     
   you  
   run  
    "terraform apply" 
     
   now. 
   

4. Apply the configuration to provision resources described in the main.tf file:

    terraform  
   apply 
   

   When prompted, enter yes .

   Terraform calls Google Cloud APIs to create the VM instance defined in the main.tf file.

   The output should be similar to the following:

    Apply  
   complete!  
   Resources:  
    1 
     
   added,  
    0 
     
   changed,  
    0 
     
   destroyed 
   

Connect to the VM instance

Connect to the VM instance you just created by running the following command:

 gcloud  
compute  
ssh  
--zone = 
us-central1-a  
my-vm