Tutorials › Terraform › Commands

Terraform Tutorial · Commands

The Terraform Commands, One at a Time

Knowing what each .tf file means only gets you halfway — Terraform is a command-line tool, and every one of those files only matters once a command reads it. This section slows down on the eight commands this project actually uses: what each one does, where to run it from, what has to already be true before you run it, what becomes true after it succeeds, and the errors people run into most often.

Codey the Sr Developer, standing with a pointer, ready to walk through the guide
Commands covered → 8 Core workflow → init · fmt · validate · plan · apply / destroy Also covered → output · test

The order these usually run in a typical session

You won't run all eight every time, but when you do use several together, this is the order they tend to happen in — each one assumes the one before it already succeeded.

Codey typing on a laptop
one command leads to the next
  1. terraform init — set up the working directory once, before anything else.
  2. terraform fmt — tidy up formatting before committing changes.
  3. terraform validate — catch structural mistakes early, without touching Azure.
  4. terraform plan — preview exactly what would change.
  5. terraform apply — make the real Azure changes.
  6. terraform destroy — remove everything, when you're done.
  7. terraform output — read back the values a completed run produced.
  8. terraform test — run automated checks any time, independent of the steps above.

Pick a command go deeper

Command 1 of 8

terraform init

Prepares the working directory: downloads the provider and connects to state.

 Command 2 of 8

terraform fmt

Rewrites files into consistent, canonical formatting.

 Command 3 of 8

terraform validate

Checks the configuration for structural mistakes, offline.

 Command 4 of 8

terraform plan

Previews exactly what would change, before anything happens.

 Command 5 of 8

terraform apply

Actually creates or updates the real Azure resources.

 Command 6 of 8

terraform destroy

Removes everything Terraform created, cleanly.

 Command 7 of 8

terraform output

Reads back the values published in outputs.tf.

 Command 8 of 8

terraform test

Runs automated checks against a mock provider, no Azure required.
Codey giving a thumbs up

Pick a command above — each page ends with the errors people actually hit, and how to fix them.