Validate

Overview

In this lab you will

• validate the syntax and logical consistency in the files
• add an additional variable

Starting point

Your files should currently look like this:

• provider.tf

  terraform {
    required_providers {
      azurerm = {
        source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
        version = "~>3.1"
      }
    }
  }
  
  provider "azurerm" {
    features {}
  
    storage_use_azuread = true
  }
  

• variables.tf

  variable "resource_group_name" {
    description = "Name for the resource group"
    type        = string
    default     = "terraform-basics"
  }
  

• main.tf

  resource "azurerm_resource_group" "basics" {
    name     = var.name
    location = "West Europe"
  }
  

terraform validate

1. Run terraform validate

   The terraform validate command checks for syntax errors or internal logical inconsistencies in the files.

   terraform validate
   

   Note that terraform validate only looks at the content of the files. It does not reach into the providers to check if the arguments and value are valid.

   
   ╷
   │ Error: Reference to undeclared input variable
   │
   │   on main.tf line 2, in resource "azurerm_resource_group" "basics":
   │    2:   name     = var.name
   │
   │ An input variable with the name "name" has not been declared.
   │ This variable can be declared with a variable "name" {} block.
   │
   

   The command has correctly confirmed that there is an inconsistency in the variable name.

2. Edit main.tf

3. Correct the variable name to var.resource_group_name

4. Revalidate

   terraform validate
   

   Example output:

   Success! The configuration is valid.
   

Add a variable

Up to this point you could progress by simply copying the code blocks and following the instructions, but now it is time to deal with the first challenge section!

💪 Challenge: Update the configuration to match the requirements below.

• Create a new variable named location
• Default the value to West Europe
• Add a description for the variable: Azure region
• Update the resource group to use the location variable
• Format and validate your files

This challenge is fairly simple, but if you do get stuck then the start of the next lab will show a valid configuration.

Summary

We have reached the end of the lab. You have added a second variable to the configuration and used the terraform validate command to check for validity and consistency.

Move onto the next lab and we’ll specify variables and plan the deployment.

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