--- name: ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform-getting-started title: Getting started with Terraform on IBM Cloud description: Terraform on IBM Cloud enables predictable and consistent provisioning of IBM Cloud® platform, services, and VPC infrastructure resources so that you can rapidly build complex, multitier cloud environments, and adopt an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach to deploying environments. last-updated: 2025-12-13 --- > ## Documentation Index > The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform?format=markdown > The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt > Use these files to discover more information as needed. # Getting started with Terraform on IBM Cloud {: #getting-started} Terraform on IBM Cloud enables predictable and consistent provisioning of IBM Cloud® platform, services, and VPC infrastructure resources so that you can rapidly build complex, multitier cloud environments, and adopt an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach to deploying environments. {: shortdesc} An alternative to configuring IBM Cloud® with the stand-alone Terraform CLI is IBM Cloud Schematics. Schematics is an easy to use, managed Terraform as a service capability on IBM Cloud®, with a full featured UI along with CLI and API support. Schematics is integrated with the IBM Cloud Platform, with support for team usage, with locking and centralized state file management, IAM access controls, logging and monitoring. Free to use, it supports many extra features, including drift detection and configuration management with Red Hat Ansible. Get started now with [IBM Cloud Schematics](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/schematics?topic=schematics-getting-started&format=markdown). {: tip} Here you learn how to install the Terraform command-line and the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in for Terraform on a local machine, laptop, or server. Then how to configure the provider plug-in to create, update, or delete IBM Cloud services with Terraform. See [IBM Cloud Schematics](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/schematics?topic=schematics-getting-started&format=markdown) if you want to start working with Terraform immediately without installation of the CLI and provider. Watch the video or follow the steps to install Terraform and configure the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in for Terraform. ![Installing the IBM Cloud provider plug-in for Terraform](https://www.kaltura.com/p/1773841/sp/177384100/embedIframeJs/uiconf_id/27941801/partner_id/1773841?iframeembed=true&entry_id=1_juwigbeb){: video output="iframe" data-script="none" id="mediacenterplayer" frameborder="0" width="560" height="315" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozAllowFullScreen} ## Installing the Terraform CLI {: #tf_installation_step} {: step} Install Terraform on your machine is by following the [instructions](https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/install){: external} provided by [HashiCorp](https://www.hashicorp.com/en/products/terraform){: external}. This guide provides installation steps for major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. Ensure that the Terraform installation directory has been added to your PATH environment variable. {: note} Verify that the installation is successful by running the following command. ```sh terraform -version ``` {: pre} ## Configuring the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in {: #install_provider-step} {: step} After the Terraform command-line installation is complete, set up and configure the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in for Terraform so that you can start working with resources and services in IBM Cloud. {: shortdesc} The following steps show how to set up the provider plug-in for Terraform v1.x or higher. 1. In your Terraform installation directory, create a folder for your first Terraform project and navigate into the folder. This folder is used to store all configuration files and variable definitions. ```sh mkdir myproject && cd myproject ``` {: pre} 2. Create a `versions.tf` file with the following content. In this file, specify the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in version that you want to use with the `version` parameter for IBM Cloud Provider plug-in, and `required_version` to specify the Terraform template version. If no `version` parameter is specified, IBM Cloud automatically uses the latest version of the provider. For a list of supported IBM Cloud Provider versions, see [IBM Cloud Provider plug-in releases](https://github.com/IBM-Cloud/terraform-provider-ibm/releases){: external}. Example with `version` parameter in `versions.tf` file ```terraform terraform { required_providers { ibm = { source = "IBM-Cloud/ibm" version = "" } } } ``` {: codeblock} Example with `required_version` parameter in `versions.tf` file ```terraform terraform { required_version = ">=1.0.0, <2.0" required_providers { ibm = { source = "IBM-Cloud/ibm" } } } ``` {: codeblock} Example with both `required_version` and `version` parameter in `versions.tf` file ```terraform terraform { required_version = ">=1.0.0, <2.0" required_providers { ibm = { source = "IBM-Cloud/ibm" version = "" } } } ``` {: codeblock} The version is specified in the following format `..`. You can modify the version constraint operator in this example by using combination of the [supported operators in Terraform](https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/language/expressions/version-constraints#version-constraint-syntax){: external}. {: tip} 3. [Create or retrieve an IBM Cloud API key](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/account?topic=account-userapikey&interface=ui&format=markdown). The API key is used to authenticate with the IBM Cloud platform and to determine your permissions for IBM Cloud services. 4. Create a variables file that is named `terraform.tfvars` and specify the IBM Cloud API key that you retrieved. In addition, you can specify the region where you want your IBM Cloud resources to be created. If no region is specified, Terraform on IBM Cloud automatically creates your resources in the `us-south` region. Variables that are defined in the `terraform.tfvars` file are automatically loaded by Terraform when the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in is initialized and you can reference them in every Terraform configuration file that you use. Because the `terraform.tfvars` file contains confidential information, do not push this file to a version control system. This file is meant to be on your local system only. {: important} Example of `terraform.tfvars` file ```terraform ibmcloud_api_key = "" region = "" ``` {: codeblock} 5. Create a providers file to configure your endpoint URLs, cloud regions, or other settings before Terraform can use them, so that Terraform can install and use them in the [provider configuration](https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/language/block/provider){: external} file that is named `providers.tf`. Use this file to configure the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in with the IBM Cloud API key from your `terraform.tfvars` file. The plug-in uses this key to access IBM Cloud and to work with your IBM Cloud service. To access a variable value from the `terraform.tfvars` file, you must first declare the variable in the `providers.tf` file and then reference the variable by using the `var.` syntax. Example of `providers.tf` file ```terraform variable "ibmcloud_api_key" {} variable "region" {} provider "ibm" { ibmcloud_api_key = var.ibmcloud_api_key region = var.region } ``` {: codeblock} **Classic infrastructure, Functions, Power Systems**: Extra parameters are required when configuring the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in. To find sample configurations for these services, see [Specifying the `provider` block](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform?topic=ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform-provider-reference&format=markdown#provider-example). {: tip} ## Testing your configuration {: #test-terraform-template} {: step} Now that you have configured the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in for your resource, you can start by using Terraform on IBM Cloud to initialize, execute plan, and apply commands to provision the resource. For more information about Terraform commands to test your configuration, see [Provisioning IBM Cloud resources](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform?topic=ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform-manage_resources&format=markdown#provision_resources). {: shortdesc} Explore [Terraform IBM Modules](https://github.com/terraform-ibm-modules){: external} along with the complete Terraform configuration files to test. Review the module [code structure](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform?topic=ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform-understand-tim-structure&format=markdown) and follow the deployment instructions provided [here](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform?topic=ibm-cloud-provider-for-terraform-deploy-tim-module&format=markdown). ## Overview of Terraform resources and data sources {: #provider-resources-datasource-list} For an overview of the Terraform resources and data sources that you can use, see the [Terraform on IBM Cloud resources and data sources](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/IBM-Cloud/ibm/latest/docs){: external}. {: shortdesc} To get information on the up-to-date Terraform on IBM Cloud releases, refer to the [Terraform on IBM Cloud](https://github.com/IBM-Cloud/terraform-provider-ibm/releases){: external}.