Tijdens HashiConf heeft HashiCorp nieuwe functionaliteiten voor HashiCorp Terraform en Terraform Cloud aangekondigd om de ontwikkelsnelheid, de kwaliteit van code en het management van infrastructuurkosten te verbeteren.
De nieuwe Terraform en Terraform Cloud functionaliteiten zijn:
• Terraform test framework (GA) en test-integrated module publishing (beta)
Helpt hoogwaardiger modules te produceren. Het Terraform test-framework, geïntroduceerd in Terraform 1.6, geeft developers eenvoudig te gebruiken tools om unit- en integratietesten uit te voeren op Terraform code. Auteurs van modules kunnen het test framework snel gebruiken omdat het geschreven is in HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) en een structuur gebruikt die lijkt op die van Terraform configuraties. Om echt te kunnen profiteren van modules van hoge kwaliteit, hebben organisaties echter ook een manier nodig om ze systematisch te controleren en te publiceren. Daarom heeft HashiCorp voor Terraform Cloud geïntegreerde modulepublicatie ontwikkeld, beschikbaar via de private registry. Deze nieuwe functie helpt module-auteurs om het testen en publiceren van modules te stroomlijnen.
• Generated module tests (beta) Het nieuwe test framework is ontworpen om gemakkelijk te worden gebruikt, maar het kost nog steeds tijd om een nieuw framework te leren. Om dat proces te versnellen, gebruikt Terraform generatieve AI om organisaties te helpen direct moduletests te produceren. De nieuwe functie voor het genereren van moduletests maakt gebruik van LLM om automatisch een reeks aangepaste tests te genereren voor modules binnen het private registry. Dit model is specifiek getraind op HCL en het Terraform-test framework om module-auteurs te helpen direct te beginnen met het testen van hun code.
• Enhanced editor validation in Visual Studio Code (GA) maakt het makkelijker om fouten op te sporen en te verhelpen. Verbeterde editorvalidatie in de Terraform-extensie voor Visual Studio Code valideert Terraform-code automatisch in een zo vroeg mogelijk stadium en creëert een verbeterde, geïntegreerde gebruikerservaring door fouten te markeren en begeleiding te bieden om problemen snel op te lossen.
• Stacks (private preview) vergemakkelijkt infrastructure provisioning en management at scale.
• Ephemeral workspaces (GA) helpt bij het optimaliseren van infrastructuuruitgaven.
New Terraform testing and UX features reduce toil, errors, and costs
Today at HashiConf, we are excited to announce new capabilities for HashiCorp Terraform and Terraform Cloud to improve developer velocity, code quality, and infrastructure cost management. The new Terraform and Terraform Cloud announcements include the following:
• Terraform test framework (GA) helps produce higher-quality modules
• Test-integrated module publishing (beta) streamlines the testing and publishing process
• Generated module tests (beta) help module authors get started in seconds
• Enhanced editor validation in Visual Studio Code (GA) makes it easier to find and resolve errors
• Stacks (private preview) simplifies infrastructure provisioning and management at scale
• Ephemeral workspaces (GA) help optimize infrastructure spend
Terraform tests help produce high-quality, reliable modules
Modules are a primary way Terraform customers standardize their infrastructure provisioning, so it is crucial to have high-quality, reliable modules. A bug in a module’s code can cause outages, compliance breaches, or open security holes — and not just once, but every time it’s reused. Without a testing framework, this quality control process can be slow and laborious — worse, sometimes testing is skipped altogether.
The Terraform community has built several excellent testing tools, but they often use full programming languages such as Ruby or Go. For a while, we’ve wanted to bring native testing to Terraform using HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL), removing the need for context switching or additional learning.
The Terraform test framework, introduced in Terraform 1.6, gives developers easy-to-use tools to perform unit and integration testing of Terraform code. Module authors can adopt the test framework quickly because it is written in HCL and uses a structure similar to Terraform configurations. You can learn more about the Terraform test framework in the Terraform 1.6 blog post.
You can also watch our walkthrough to see the Terraform test framework in action:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N73chhccmo8
To truly benefit from high-quality modules, however, organizations also need a way to control and publish them systematically. That’s why we created test-integrated module publishing for Terraform Cloud, available through the private registry. This new feature helps module authors streamline the module testing and publishing process.
First, a new branch-based publishing method in the private registry enables greater control over when and how modules are published. Unlike the current Git tag-based publishing, the branch-based method lets registry maintainers publish new module versions directly from the registry. Building on this new publishing workflow, the Terraform test framework is now directly integrated with the private registry.
Once enabled on a module, test runs will execute automatically based on version control events such as pull requests and merges, and can be initiated from the CLI or API. Just like workspace runs, tests execute remotely in a secure environment, eliminating the need for developers to handle sensitive cloud credentials on their workstation. With integrated tests and more direct control over publishing, platform teams can be confident new module versions are well-tested before making them available to downstream users.
Terraform Cloud Free users can have up to 5 test-integrated modules while Terraform Cloud Standard users can have up to 10 test-integrated modules. Customers using the Terraform Cloud Plus tier will have unlimited test-integrated modules.
The history of test results for a module is tracked directly in the private registry.
Generated module tests jumpstart Terraform test writing
The new test framework is designed to be easy to use, but it still takes time to learn a new framework, especially for module authors who may not know how to get started. To jumpstart that process, Terraform is using generative AI to help organizations instantly produce module tests as a starting point for module authors.
Our new generated module tests feature leverages a large language model (LLM) to auto-generate a suite of customized tests for a module within the private registry. This model is specifically trained on HCL and the Terraform test framework to help module authors begin testing their code right away.
This feature, currently in beta, is available in the private registry for Terraform Cloud Plus organizations. With the press of a button, Terraform Cloud will generate the code for one or more tests that are specifically customized to the module. Authors can copy or download the code from the UI and add it to their module repository right away, and it will be saved for later use.
Customer data security is very important to us, and our AI-test generation features have been built so that no customer or community module data is used for training models and module data won’t be stored with third-party vendors.
The generated module test workflow will be accessible through the module details page in the private registry.
Enhanced editor validation makes resolving errors easier
When writing Terraform code, either by hand or by leveraging the latest generative AI tools, errors are a fact of life. That means developers often find themselves context switching between their editor and the CLI to validate code, leading to frustration and reducing productivity.
Enhanced editor validation in the Terraform extension for Visual Studio Code automatically validates Terraform code as early as possible, creating an enhanced, integrated authoring experience by highlighting errors and providing guidance to help resolve issues quickly. Examples of these new validations include:
• Identifying missing variable declarations or required attributes
• Highlighting unexpected attributes or blocks
• Issuing warnings for deprecated attributes.
Validation errors (underlined in red) are immediately identified within the editor, without context switching.
Stacks simplify provisioning and managing resources at scale
Today, users can leverage a modular approach to infrastructure with Terraform, but large-scale deployment and management often remains tedious, complex, and repetitive.
For example, when provisioning multiple root modules or workspaces together, users must first understand their dependencies and manually deploy each module or workspace, one by one in the correct order. This complexity gets worse when users need to deploy the same infrastructure multiple times across multiple environments, regions, landing zones, or accounts within a cloud provider.
Stacks are a new approach that help users automate and optimize the coordination, deployment, and management of interdependent Terraform configurations, reducing the time and overhead of managing infrastructure.
Multiple Terraform modules can be organized and deployed together in a stack using components, a construct that groups together different interdependent systems, such as network and database modules. Once this set of components is defined, it can be effortlessly replicated multiple times across what are known as deployments in a stack. This is especially useful for deploying the same infrastructure across multiple environments (e.g. staging, QA, and production) or regions. With differing input values in each deployment, users can consistently create and expand complex infrastructure with one simple action.
To learn more about stacks, sign up for a free HashiConf virtual pass to watch the Terraform and Packer roadmap session live at 1:30 p.m. (ET) / 10:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday, Oct. 11, or on-demand once HashiConf concludes. Stacks are currently in private preview.
Stacks eliminate the need to manually manage cross-configuration dependencies and duplicated configurations.
Ephemeral workspaces automatically optimize infrastructure spend
Back in August, HashiCorp announced the public beta of ephemeral workspaces. Today we are excited to announce the general availability of ephemeral workspaces for Terraform Cloud Plus and Terraform Enterprise. This feature lets customers schedule a time to automatically destroy non-production resources, eliminating the need for manual cleanup, streamlining workspace management, and, perhaps most importantly, reducing infrastructure costs.
Get started with Terraform Cloud
As organizations look to optimize infrastructure operations and spend, Terraform is adding features to improve developer velocity, including the Terraform test framework and the test-integrated module testing workflow to produce and publish high-quality modules, along with generated module tests to jumpstart adoption. The enhanced editor validation helps resolve errors quickly without context switching. At the same time, ephemeral workspaces are helping customers cut costs with an easy way to enforce a time-to-live policy.
Together, these Terraform enhancements represent significant steps toward our goal of helping customers maximize their infrastructure investments and speed application delivery.
You can try many of these new features now. If you are new to Terraform, sign up for HashiCorp Terraform Cloud and get started for free today.
