Terraform Validate Command

When we talk about an open-source infrastructure as a code (IaC) tool Terraform automatically comes into the picture. Terraform allows declarative definition and provisioning of infrastructure resources. The Terraform command-line interface (CLI) allows you to establish and maintain your infrastructure across several cloud providers after defining it using a straightforward and legible configuration language. ‘terraform validate’ is one of the most important commands in the workflow. We will go over the ‘terraform validate’ command in-depth and provide some useful examples in this article.

Terraform Validate Command

Terraform configuration files’ syntax and structure are checked using the ‘terraform validate’ command. It does so without really deploying any infrastructure resources, but by just checking your configuration files for mistakes. This command performs a static analysis on your code to make sure it follows the desired structure and sticks to the proper syntax.

Syntax:

Let’s understand the basic syntax for the ‘terraform validate’ command:

terraform validate [options] [DIR]

• [options]: This is a optional command-line flags which we can use with the terraform validate command.
• [DIR]: This is a optional directory path which contains all the Terraform configuration files. If nothing is specified, by default it considers it to be the current directory.

Terraform Validate Command With Examples

Let’s gain some inisghts at few examples to understand how the terraform validate command works.

Example 1: Validate Single File

Consider we have a single configuration file named ‘main.tf’ and we want to validate it. To validate the file, we can simply navigate to the directory containing the file and run the following command:

terraform validate

You will receive a success message stating that the configuration is valid if there are no syntax mistakes or other problems with it. If not, any faults or warnings will be visible, assisting you in locating and resolving the problems.

Example 2: Validate Multiple Configuration Files

You might have several interdependent configuration files in more complicated settings. In these circumstances, you can validate every file simultaneously by supplying the directory path where the configuration files are located. For example:

terraform validate /path/of/config/files

The provided directory and all of its subdirectories will have all of the configuration files present in this command recursively verified.

Example 3: Validate Command With Module Block

You can validate each Terraform module separately if you’re using one in your setup. Consider the scenario when you have a network module defined in a different directory. Navigate to the module directory and issue the terraform validate command to validate only the module.

Terraform Validate Command With Options

To further personalize the validation procedure, the terraform validate command accepts the following extra options:

-JSON – JSON format is generated by using the -json option.

• -no-color – Disables output in color.
• -var ‘key=value’ – specifies variable values during validation with the -var “key=value” option.

Conclusion

In order to make sure that your Terraform configurations are accurate and complete, you must use the ‘Terraform validate’ command. Before deploying any infrastructure, you can use this command to find syntax errors, spot configuration problems, and confirm the overall structure of your code. You may create dependable and scalable infrastructure as code by integrating the terraform validate command into your development workflow.

It’s important to keep in mind that running terraform validate frequently during the development process enables you to find and fix configuration problems early on, leading to more seamless deployments and a lower risk of infrastructure faults.