Easily create Terraform RDS using aws_db_instance

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With Terraform RDS, you can simplify your database provisioning and management process. In this article, we will explore the power of Terraform and how it can revolutionize your approach to setting up and maintaining RDS (Relational Database Service) instances.

Introduction to Terraform RDS

Managing databases in the cloud can be a complex and time-consuming task. From provisioning resources to ensuring scalability and high availability, it requires meticulous planning and execution. This is where Terraform RDS comes into play. Terraform, an open-source infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tool, allows you to define and provision your infrastructure resources in a declarative manner, making it easier to manage and maintain your RDS instances.

Understanding RDS in AWS

What is RDS?

RDS, or Relational Database Service, is a managed database service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It offers a fully managed solution for popular relational database engines such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server. With RDS, you can offload the burden of database administration tasks such as backups, software patching, and scaling, allowing you to focus on your core business logic.

Benefits of using RDS

Using RDS has numerous benefits. First and foremost, it simplifies the database setup and maintenance process. RDS handles automated backups, software updates, and database scaling, reducing the operational overhead for your team. It also provides high availability and fault tolerance, ensuring that your database remains accessible even in the event of a failure.

Common use cases for RDS

RDS is suitable for a wide range of use cases. Whether you are building a web application, a mobile app, or an enterprise system, RDS can cater to your database needs. It is especially useful when you require a scalable and reliable database solution without the hassle of managing the underlying infrastructure.

Overview of Terraform

What is Terraform?

Terraform is an open-source infrastructure provisioning tool that allows you to define and manage your infrastructure as code. It uses a declarative language to describe the desired state of your infrastructure and automates the provisioning process. Terraform supports multiple cloud providers, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, making it a versatile tool for managing infrastructure resources.

Why use Terraform for infrastructure provisioning?

Using Terraform offers several advantages. Firstly, it provides infrastructure as code, enabling you to define your infrastructure resources in a human-readable and version-controlled format. This allows for better collaboration, documentation, and reproducibility. Additionally, Terraform facilitates automation, making it easier to provision, modify, and destroy your resources as needed.

Setting up RDS with Terraform using aws_db_instance

To get started with Terraform RDS, you'll need to set up your environment and define the desired state of your RDS infrastructure. Follow the steps below to provision your RDS instances using Terraform:

Step 1: Installing Terraform

Before you can start using Terraform, you'll need to install it on your machine. Terraform provides installation packages for different operating systems, making it easy to set up. Simply download the appropriate package for your operating system and follow the installation instructions.

Install using Homebrew on OSX

First, install the HashiCorp tap

$ brew tap hashicorp/tap

Now, install Terraform with hashicorp/tap/terraform.

$ brew install hashicorp/tap/terraform

Step 2: Creating a Terraform configuration file

Once you have Terraform installed, create a new directory for your Terraform project and navigate to it using the command line. In this directory, create a new file with the extension ".tf" (e.g., "main.tf"), which will contain your Terraform configuration.

Step 3: Defining RDS resource aws_db_instance

Terraform provides resource aws_db_instance to create rds instance in AWS. Edit the main.tf file and add the following code.

resource "aws_db_instance" "rds-example" {
  identifier           = "rdsexmaple"
  allocated_storage    = 20
  db_name              = "tasriedb"
  engine               = "mysql"
  engine_version       = "8.0"
  instance_class       = "db.t3.micro"
  username             = "root"
  password             = "xsdo798234ASD"
  parameter_group_name = "default.mysql8.0"
}

Argument Reference

Deploy Terraform RDS

Now we need to run terraform init which will download all the required terraform resources to run.

terraform init

Next, we need to run terraform plan command to see what are all the resources created.

terraform plan

Finally, we need to run terraform apply command to launch AWS RDS

terraform apply

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