Introduction to using Azure Verified Modules for Terraform

Browse code

This is a lab based sample that demonstrates how to use the Azure Verified Modules for Terraform. The repository contains the full working solution, but you should follow the steps in the lab to understand how it fits together.

Content

File/folder	Description
labs	The files for the lab.
.gitignore	Define what to ignore at commit time.
CHANGELOG.md	List of changes to the sample.
CONTRIBUTING.md	Guidelines for contributing to the sample.
README.md	This README file.
LICENSE.md	The license for the sample.

Features

This sample deploys the following features:

• Virtual network
• Subnets
• Network security groups
• Virtual machines
• Managed identities
• Key Vault
• Storage account with customer managed key
• Private end points and associated private DNS zones

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• HashiCorp Terraform CLI Version 1.7 or higher: Download
• Git: Download
• Visual Studio Code: Download
  • Azure Terraform Extension for Visual Studio Code: Install
  • HashiCorp Terraform Extension for Visual Studio Code: Install
• Azure CLI: Download
• An Azure Subscription: Free Account

Quickstart

The instructions for this sample are in the form of a Lab. Follow along with them to get up and running.

Demo / Lab

Part 0 - Get the lab files

In this part we are going to get a local copy of the lab files for use in the rest of the lab.

1. Create a new root folder for the lab in a location of your choice.
2. Open a terminal and navigate to the new folder.
3. Run git clone https://github.com/Azure-Samples/avm-terraform-labs to clone the lab files into the new folder, they will be in a subfolder called avm-terraform-labs.

Your file structure should now look like this:

  ```plaintext
  📂my-lab-folder
  ┗ 📂avm-terraform-labs
  ```

Part 1 - Base files and resources

In this part we are going to setup our Terraform root module and deploy an Azure Resoure Group ready for the rest of the lab.

1. Create a new folder under your lab folder called avm-lab.

2. Copy the files from the part 1 folder into the avm-lab folder.

   # E.g. Using pwsh, run this from inside your top level lab folder
   cd avm-lab
   copy ../avm-terraform-labs/labs/part01-base/* .
   

   Your file structure should look like this:

   📂my-lab-folder
   ┣ 📂avm-lab
   ┃ ┣ 📜.gitignore
   ┃ ┣ 📜locals.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜main.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜outputs.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜terraform.tf
   ┃ ┗ 📜variables.tf
   ┗ 📂avm-terraform-labs
   

3. Open Visual Studio Code and open the avm-lab folder. Hint: code .

4. Examine the terraform block in terraform.tf and note that we are referencing the azurerm and random providers.

5. Examine the locals.tf, variables.tf, outputs.tf and main.tf files.

6. Create a file called terraform.tfvars and add the following code to it, ensuring you replace the placeholder for a valid Azure location of your choice (e.g. uksouth):

   location = "<azure region>"
   tags = {
     type = "avm"
     env  = "demo"
   }
   

7. Open a terminal in Visual Studio Code and ensure you are in the root of your avm-lab folder.

8. Run az login to login to your Azure subscription.

9. Run az account show to show the current subscription. Run az account set --subscription <subscription-id> to set the subscription if it is not the one you want to use.

10. Run terraform init to initialize the Terraform configuration.

11. Run terraform plan -out tfplan to see what resources will be created and create a plan file.

12. Run terraform apply tfplan to create the resources based on the plan file.

13. If your run is successful, you will see:

    Apply complete! Resources: 2 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.
    

14. Take note of the outputs from the terraform apply command, they should look like this:

    Outputs:
    
    names = {
      "resource_group_name" = "rg-demo-excited-eel"
    }
    

15. Navigate to the Azure Portal and review the resources that have been created.

16. Run git init to initialize a new git repository.

17. Run git add . to stage the files.

18. Run git commit -m "Initial commit" to commit the files.

Part 2 - Virtual network and subnets

In this part we are going to add a virtual network and subnets to our Terraform configuration by leveraging the Azure Verified Module for Virtual Network. The Virtual Network is going to be used to provide private connnectivity between and to our virtual machine, key vault and storage account.

IMPORTANT: This lab is incremental, you must not delete any files from the previous lab (especially the terraform.tfstate file). You must copy the files from the next lab into the avm-lab folder and only replace the existing files when prompted.

1. Copy the files from the part 2 folder into the avm-lab folder. This will add some new files and replace some files.

   # E.g. Using pwsh, run this from inside your top level lab folder
   cd avm-lab
   copy ../avm-terraform-labs/labs/part02-virtual-network/* .
   

   Your file structure should now look like this if you have followed the instructions correctly (this structure will continue to grow as you progress through the lab):

   📂my-lab-folder
   ┣ 📂avm-lab
   ┃ ┣ 📂.git (hidden)
   ┃ ┣ 📂.terraform
   ┃ ┣ 📜.gitignore
   ┃ ┣ 📜.terraform.lock.hcl
   ┃ ┣ 📜avm.virtual_network.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜locals.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜main.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜non.avm.network_security_group.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜outputs.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜terraform.tf
   ┃ ┣ 📜terraform.tfstate
   ┃ ┣ 📜terraform.tfvars
   ┃ ┣ 📜tfplan
   ┃ ┗ 📜variables.tf
   ┗ 📂avm-terraform-labs
   

2. Open your terraform.tfvars and update it with the following code, ensuring you replace the placeholder for a valid Azure location of your choice (e.g. uksouth):

   location               = "<azure region>"
   address_space_start_ip = "10.0.0.0"
   address_space_size     = 16
   subnets_and_sizes = {
     AzureBastionSubnet = 24
     private_endpoints  = 28
     virtual_machines   = 24
   }
   tags = {
     type = "avm"
     env  = "demo"
   }
   

3. Run terraform init -upgrade to install the AVM module for Virtual Networks.

4. Navigate to the Source Control tab in Visual Studio Code and review the changes to the files.

5. Open the avm.virtual-network.tf file and look at each of the properties, paying close attention to the source and version properties.

6. In order to find more detail about AVM modules, you can navigate to their documentation. For example, you can find the documentation for the Virtual Network module here. From there you can navigate to the source code and see the module's implementation here.

7. Apply the changes with Terraform. Hint: terraform apply -auto-approve.

8. Review the deployed resources in the Azure Portal.

9. Commit the changes to git.

Part 3 - Key Vault

In this part we are going to add a Key Vault to our Terraform configuration by leveraging the Azure Verified Module for Key Vault. The Key Vault is going to be used to store the customer managed key for our storage account and the SSH private key for our virtual machine.

1. Copy the files from the part 3 folder into the avm-lab folder, remembering to retain the existing files and just add an overwrite when prompted.

   # E.g. Using pwsh, run this from inside your top level lab folder
   cd avm-lab
   copy ../avm-terraform-labs/labs/part03-key-vault/* .
   

2. Run terraform init -upgrade to install the AVM module for Key Vault.

3. Navigate to the Source Control tab in Visual Studio Code and review the changes to the files.

4. Open the avm.key-vault.tf file and look at each of the properties, paying close attention to the private_endpoints and role_assigments variables.

5. Apply the changes with Terraform.

6. Review the deployed resources in the Azure Portal.

7. Commit the changes to git.

Part 4 - Storage account

In this part we are going to add a Storage Account to our Terraform configuration by leveraging the Azure Verified Module for Storage Account. The Storage Account is the main component of our demo lab and we will interact with it later on.

1. Copy the files from the part 4 folder into the avm-lab folder, remembering to retain the existing files and just add an overwrite when prompted.

   # E.g. Using pwsh, run this from inside your top level lab folder
   cd avm-lab
   copy ../avm-terraform-labs/labs/part04-storage-account/* .
   

2. Run terraform init -upgrade to install the AVM module for Storage Account.

3. Navigate to the Source Control tab in Visual Studio Code and review the changes to the files.

4. Open the avm.storage-account.tf file and look at each of the properties, paying close attention to the managed_identities, customer_managed_key and containers variables.

5. Note in the source control diff that we are adding a key to the Key Vault using the AVM module and assigning permissions for the user assigned managed identity to access the key.

6. Apply the changes with Terraform.

7. Review the deployed resources in the Azure Portal.

8. Commit the changes to git.

Part 5 - Virtual machine and Bastion

In this part we are going to add a Virtual Machine to our Terraform configuration by leveraging the Azure Verified Module for Virtual Machine. The Virtual Machine is going to be used to interact with the Storage Account later. We are also going to add a role assignment to the storage module to assign permissions to the managed identity of the virtual machine to the storage container.

1. Copy the files from the part 5 folder into the avm-lab folder, remembering to retain the existing files and just add an overwrite when prompted.

   # E.g. Using pwsh, run this from inside your top level lab folder
   cd avm-lab
   copy ../avm-terraform-labs/labs/part05-virtual-machine/* .
   

2. Run terraform init -upgrade to install the AVM modules for Virtual Machine and Role Assignments.

3. Apply the changes with Terraform. NOTE: We are applying this now, because the bastion can take a few minutes to deploy.

4. Navigate to the Source Control tab in Visual Studio Code and review the changes to the files.

5. Open the avm.virtual-machine.tf file and look at each of the properties, paying close attention to the admin_credential_key_vault_resource_id and network_interfaces variables.

6. Apply the changes with Terraform.

7. Review the deployed resources in the Azure Portal.

8. Commit the changes to git.

Part 6 - Connect to the VM via Bastion

In this part we are going to connect to the virtual machine via the Azure Bastion service using the SSH private key stored in the Key Vault.

1. Open the Azure Portal and navigate to the VM.
2. Click on the Connect button and select Bastion.
3. Choose SSH Private Key from Azure Key Vault in the Authentication Type dropdown.
4. Enter azureuser in the Username field.
5. Select you subscription from the Subscription drop down.
6. Select the Key Vault you created in the lab in the Azure Key Vault drop down.
7. Select the secret you created in the lab in the Azure Key Vault Secret drop down.
8. Click Connect.
9. A new browser window will open with a terminal session to the VM.

Part 7 - Install the Azure CLI and login

We are going to install the Azure CLI and login with the system assigned managed identity of the VM from the Azure Bastion SSH terminal.

1. Run curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash to install the Azure CLI.
2. Run az login --identity to login with the system assigned managed identity.

Part 8 - Create a blob in the storage account

We are going to create a blob in the storage account using the Azure CLI form the Azure Bastion SSH terminal.

1. Run echo "hello world" > hello.txt to create a file with some content.

2. Run az storage blob upload --account-name <storage-account-name> --container-name demo --file hello.txt --name hello.txt --auth-mode login to upload the file to the storage account.

3. Run az storage blob list --account-name <storage-account-name> --container-name demo --auth-mode login to list the blobs in the container.

4. Run az storage blob download --account-name <storage-account-name> --container-name demo --name hello.txt --file hello2.txt --auth-mode login to download the blob to a new file.

5. Run cat hello2.txt to view the contents of the downloaded file.

   Here are the commands to run, so you can copy to notepad and replace the placeholder with the storage account name you created in the lab. Then run the commands in the terminal:

   echo "hello world" > hello.txt
   az storage blob upload --account-name replace_me --container-name demo --file hello.txt --name hello.txt --auth-mode login
   az storage blob list --account-name replace_me --container-name demo --auth-mode login
   az storage blob download --account-name replace_me --container-name demo --name hello.txt --file hello2.txt --auth-mode login
   cat hello2.txt
   

Clean up

Finally we will clean up everything we have created in the lab.

1. Run terraform destroy from the Visual Studio Code terminal to remove the resources created by Terraform.
2. When prompted type yes and press Enter to confirm the destruction.

Resources

• AVM Documentation: Azure Verified Modules