🚀 Managing GCP Compute Engine with Terraform

This repository demonstrates how to manage Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Compute Engine instances using Terraform. It provides a structured approach for setting up a GCP project, configuring Terraform, and deploying infrastructure resources efficiently.

📑 Table of Contents

1. ✅ Prerequisites
2. 📂 Project Structure
3. ⚙️ Setting Up GCP Project
4. 🔧 Setting Up Terraform
5. 🛠️ Terraform Configuration
6. 🚀 Running Terraform
7. 🗑️ Cleaning Up
8. 📌 Additional Resources

✅ Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

1. 🖥️ Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Account: You will need an active Google Cloud account.
2. 📦 Terraform Installed: Install Terraform on your local machine. If not already installed, follow this guide to set up Terraform.
3. 🛠️ gcloud CLI Installed: The gcloud command-line interface is required for authentication. You can install it following this guide.
4. ☁️ A Google Cloud Project: Create a GCP project if you don't have one. You can do so in the Google Cloud Console.

📂 Project Structure

This repository follows a modular approach to organizing Terraform configurations:

.terraform
│── modules
│   ├── compute
│   │   ├── main.tf
│   │   ├── outputs.tf
│   │   ├── variables.tf
│── .gitignore
│── .terraform.lock.hcl
│── gcp_creds.json
│── main.tf
│── outputs.tf
│── providers.tf
│── README.md
│── terraform.tfstate
│── terraform.tfstate.backup
│── terraform.tfvars
│── variables.tf

• 📂 modules/compute/: Contains modular Terraform configurations for Compute Engine instances.
• 📄 main.tf: The primary Terraform configuration file.
• 🔧 variables.tf: Defines reusable Terraform variables.
• 📤 outputs.tf: Defines the Terraform output values.
• 🛠️ providers.tf: Configures the provider settings for Terraform.
• 📑 terraform.tfvars: Stores variable values for Terraform execution.
• 🔐 gcp_creds.json: The service account key file for GCP authentication (not to be committed).

⚙️ Setting Up GCP Project

1. 🌍 Create a Google Cloud Project:
   • Go to the Google Cloud Console.
   • Create a new project or select an existing one.
   • Note your project ID for Terraform configuration.

2. 🔌 Enable Compute Engine API:
   • Navigate to APIs & Services > Library.
   • Search for Compute Engine API and click Enable.

3. 👤 Create a Service Account:
   • Navigate to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
   • Click Create Service Account, assign a role (Compute Admin or Project Owner).
   • Generate a JSON key and download it securely.

4. 🌍 Set Environment Variables:

   export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/path/to/your-keyfile.json"

   Replace /path/to/your-keyfile.json with the actual path.

🔧 Setting Up Terraform

1. ⬇️ Install Terraform: Follow the Terraform installation guide.

2. 🛠️ Initialize Terraform:

   terraform init

   

🛠️ Terraform Configuration

Below shows some example ways of configuring , for in detail approach refer the source code of this repo

1. 🔗 Define Provider Configuration (providers.tf):

   provider "google" {
     project     = var.project_id
     region      = var.region
     credentials = file(var.credentials_file)
   }

2. ⚙️ Define Compute Engine Resource (main.tf):

   resource "google_compute_instance" "vm_instance" {
     name         = "terraform-vm"
     machine_type = "e2-micro"
     zone         = "us-central1-a"
   
     boot_disk {
       initialize_params {
         image = "debian-cloud/debian-11"
       }
     }
   
     network_interface {
       network = "default"
       access_config {}
     }
   }

3. 📝 Define Variables (variables.tf):

   variable "project_id" {
     description = "GCP Project ID"
     type        = string
   }
   
   variable "region" {
     description = "GCP Region"
     type        = string
     default     = "us-central1"
   }
   
   variable "credentials_file" {
     description = "Path to service account JSON key file"
     type        = string
   }

4. 📤 Define Outputs (outputs.tf):

   output "instance_name" {
     value = google_compute_instance.vm_instance.name
   }

🚀 Running Terraform

1. 📝 Plan the Deployment:

   terraform plan

2. ⚡ Apply the Configuration:

   terraform apply

   Type yes when prompted.

   

3. 📌 Verify the Deployment:

   • Navigate to Compute Engine > VM instances in the GCP Console.

🗑️ Cleaning Up

To remove all resources:

terraform destroy

Confirm by typing yes.

📌 Additional Resources

• 📖 Terraform Docs
• 🏗️ Google Cloud Terraform Provider
• 🌐 Google Cloud Console

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This project provides an efficient way to manage GCP Compute Engine instances using Terraform, following best practices for modular configuration and automation. 🌟