Terraform is a powerful Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool that allows you to define, provision, and manage cloud infrastructure. In this guide, we will walk you through how to create a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on Amazon Web Services (AWS) using Terraform. Whether you're using a Windows VPS UK or any other cloud solution, Terraform helps automate infrastructure deployment efficiently.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure you have the following:

• An AWS account with appropriate IAM permissions to create VPCs, subnets, and security groups.
• Terraform installed on your local machine.
• A text editor like Visual Studio Code or nano.

Step 1: Install Terraform

If you don’t have Terraform installed, you can install it on Ubuntu by running the following commands:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y gnupg software-properties-common curl
curl -fsSL https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-add-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main"
sudo apt update && sudo apt install terraform

Once installed, verify the installation by running:

terraform --version

Step 2: Create a Terraform Configuration File

In your project directory, create a new file called main.tf where you will define your AWS VPC. This file will contain the configuration for the VPC, subnets, internet gateway, and other resources.

Example of the main.tf file:

provider "aws" {
  region = "us-east-1"
}

resource "aws_vpc" "main_vpc" {
  cidr_block = "10.0.0.0/16"

  tags = {
    Name = "main-vpc"
  }
}

resource "aws_subnet" "public_subnet" {
  vpc_id            = aws_vpc.main_vpc.id
  cidr_block        = "10.0.1.0/24"
  availability_zone = "us-east-1a"

  tags = {
    Name = "public-subnet"
  }
}

resource "aws_internet_gateway" "igw" {
  vpc_id = aws_vpc.main_vpc.id

  tags = {
    Name = "main-igw"
  }
}

resource "aws_route_table" "public_route_table" {
  vpc_id = aws_vpc.main_vpc.id

  route {
    cidr_block = "0.0.0.0/0"
    gateway_id = aws_internet_gateway.igw.id
  }

  tags = {
    Name = "public-route-table"
  }
}

resource "aws_route_table_association" "public_association" {
  subnet_id      = aws_subnet.public_subnet.id
  route_table_id = aws_route_table.public_route_table.id
}

Step 3: Initialize Terraform

After creating the configuration file, initialize Terraform in the project directory. This will download the necessary provider plugins for AWS:

terraform init

Step 4: Apply the Terraform Configuration

Before applying the changes, you can run a plan to check what resources will be created:

terraform plan

If everything looks good, apply the configuration:

terraform apply

Terraform will prompt you to confirm the action. Type yes to proceed. Terraform will then create the VPC, subnet, internet gateway, and route table based on your configuration.

Step 5: Verify Your VPC on AWS

Once the configuration is applied, you can log in to your AWS Management Console and navigate to the VPC dashboard to verify that your VPC and associated resources (subnets, route tables, and internet gateway) have been successfully created.

Step 6: Clean Up (Optional)

If you want to delete the resources you created, simply run:

terraform destroy

Terraform will remove all resources that were defined in the main.tf file.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you have successfully created a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on AWS using Terraform. This automated approach simplifies cloud infrastructure management and is ideal for large-scale deployments. Whether you're hosting applications on a Windows VPS UK, Windows VPS Italy, or another Windows Virtual Private Server Hosting, Terraform provides a scalable solution for managing your cloud environment.