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Automating Nginx Container Deployment with Terraform: A Step-by-Step Guide

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pardeep kaur
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"Provisioning an AWS EC2 Instance and Installing Terraform: A Step-by-Step Guide"

In this comprehensive guide, we'll take you through the process of setting up an Amazon Web Services (AWS) EC2 instance and installing Terraform. We'll also show you how to configure SSH key access to your EC2 instance, which is a fundamental step in managing infrastructure as code. Once your EC2 instance is up and running, we'll walk you through the process of installing Docker, a powerful containerization platform.

Here are the key steps in our journey:

Step 1: EC2 Instance Setup

  • Launch an AWS EC2 instance with your desired configuration.

  • Set up SSH key pairs to secure your access.

Step 2: Connect to Your EC2 Instance

  • Connect to your EC2 instance using SSH keys, ensuring a secure and efficient connection.

Step 3: Installing Terraform

  • We'll guide you through the installation of Terraform on your EC2 instance. This will enable you to start managing your infrastructure as code.

Step 4: Docker Installation

  • We'll show you how to install Docker on your EC2 instance, providing a platform for running containerized applications.

Step 5: Docker Configuration with Terraform

  • Create a Terraform configuration file, 'main.tf,' to manage Docker containers.

  • Specify the Docker provider and define a Docker image and container resource.

  • Your EC2 instance will now be ready to host a Dockerized Nginx web server.

By the end of this guide, you'll have an EC2 instance configured with SSH keys, Terraform for infrastructure management, and Docker for containerization. You'll be equipped to build and deploy your applications in a secure and reproducible manner. Enjoy the journey as you become adept at managing cloud resources and containers effectively!

install terraform by following link: Installing Terraform on Ubuntu.

Install docker on ec2 instance:

sudo apt install docker.io

To install the Docker provider plugin for Terraform, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Terraform Configuration

Ensure you have a Terraform configuration file vim terraform.tf for your infrastructure. For example, the following configuration sets up a Docker provider:

terraform {
  required_providers {
    docker = {
      source  = "kreuzwerker/docker"
      version = "3.0.2"
    }
  }
}

This configuration specifies that you require the docker provider from the specified source and version.

Step 2: Initialize Terraform

In your terminal, navigate to the directory containing your Terraform configuration file and execute:

terraform init

This command initializes Terraform and downloads the required provider plugin based on the configuration in your terraform.tf file.

Step 3: Create Docker Resources

Now, you can define Docker resources in your Terraform configuration. For example, you can create a Docker image and a container resource:

vim main.tf

provider "docker" {}

resource "docker_image" "nginx_img_rsc" {
  name         = "nginx:latest"
  keep_locally = false
}

resource "docker_container" "nginx_cont_rsc" {
  name  = "my_nginx_container"
  image = docker_image.nginx_img_rsc.name

  ports {
    internal = 80
    external = 80
  }
}

In this example, we:

  • Specify the Docker provider using the provider block.

  • Define a Docker image resource using the docker_image block.

  • Define a Docker container resource using the docker_container block.

Step 4: Apply Your Terraform Configuration

Apply your Terraform configuration to create the Docker resources. In your terminal, execute:

terraform plan

Terraform will create the specified Docker resources based on your configuration.

terraform apply

That's it! You've successfully installed the Docker provider plugin for Terraform and used it to create Docker resources. You can now manage and orchestrate containers as part of your infrastructure.

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