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Mercy Ndonga
Mercy Ndonga

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🧱 Terra Biteʒ 2: AWS Handshake 🤝

Day 2 of my Terraform journey was all about forging a powerful alliance: Terraform and Amazon Web Services (AWS)! This is where the magic of Infrastructure as Code truly begins.

🔑 Secure Your AWS Kingdom: IAM is FREE! 🥳

  • Ditch the root user (it's like leaving your castle door wide open! 😱). We're all about creating a dedicated IAM (Identity and Access Management) User. Think granular permissions – keys to specific rooms, not the entire fortress. Best part? IAM is a FREE AWS service! 🎉

  • Here’s the quick setup:

  1. ➡️ AWS Console > IAM: Navigate and add a new user.
  2. ➡️ Programmatic Access: Select this type.
  3. ➡️ Permissions: For learning, AdministratorAccess gets us going.
  4. ➡️ 🔑 Grab Your Keys: Download that .csv with your Access key ID and Secret access key. Guard them like gold! 🔒

💻 Connecting Your Dev Machine: aws configure FTW!

  • Time to link your local VS Code (or your favorite IDE's terminal) to your AWS account:
  1. ✔️ Install AWS CLI: (If you haven't yet).
  2. ✔️ Terminal Time: Open your terminal in VS Code.
  3. ✔️ Run aws configure:
    • ➡️ Enter your AWS Access Key ID.
    • ➡️ Enter your AWS Secret Access Key.
    • ➡️ Set your Default region name (e.g., af-south-1🌍).
    • ➡️ (Optional) Choose an Output format (like json).

✨ Boom! Your local setup is now authenticated and ready for action!

✅ Verification Checkpoint

To make sure Terraform and AWS are BFFs, I did a quick check:

  • AWS CLI Check:

    aws sts get-caller-identity

  • Expected Output: This should tell you about the IAM user you configured, confirming AWS CLI is working.

    ```json
{
  "UserId": "AIDACKCEVSQ6C2EXAMPLE",
  "Account": "123456789012",
  "Arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/my-iam-user"
}
```

AWS STS Get Caller Identity Output

🤝 Terraform & AWS: Speaking the Same Language

  • Here's the cool part: Terraform uses the secure credentials you configured with aws configure to talk to AWS behind the scenes. This allows Terraform to make the necessary API calls to build, tweak, and tear down your infrastructure based on your code. Automation unlocked! 🚀

🚧 Troubleshooting Corner

  • Error: No valid credential sources found: Classic! Usually means your aws configure went wrong, or Terraform can't find your ~/.aws/credentials file. Double-check those aws configure steps.

💰 Pro Tip: Cloud Budgets are Your Friend! 🤝

  • Keep those cloud costs in check! Always remember to terraform destroy resources you're not actively learning with. Let's build knowledge, not unexpected bills! 😉

  • Enable MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) on your root account (first!) and highly privileged IAM users. It's a game-changer! 🔐

💡 Brain Bytes from Day 2 🧠

  • Authentication is King: aws configure = AWS access. No aws configure, no Terraform fun.
  • Verify, verify, verify: aws sts get-caller-identity is your friend after config changes.

🎉 What's Next? The Real Building Begins!

  • Terraform and AWS are officially connected!☁️

  • Day 3: Time to actually deploy something small – maybe an EC2 instance?

📡 Connect with me:

LinkedIn 💼

`#terraform #aws #iac #cloud #devops #30dayterraformchallenge #cloudcomputing

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