Infrastructure as Code FAQ: Top Questions

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of managing and provisioning computing infrastructure through machine-readable definition files, rather than through manual hardware configuration or interactive configuration tools.

🗺️ Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Create a version-controlled configuration file using tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, or Ansible.
2. Define infrastructure resources (like servers, load balancers, databases) using declarative or imperative syntax.
3. Use the CLI tool (e.g., terraform apply) to provision infrastructure based on the code.
4. Track changes to infrastructure through version control (e.g., Git).

📥 Example Input:

# main.tf
provider "aws" {
  region = "us-west-2"
}

resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = "ami-0abcdef1234567890"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
}

🏆 Expected Output:

A new EC2 instance is provisioned in AWS in the us-west-2 region.

✅ Terraform Solution:

terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply

📘 Detailed Explanation:

• Consistency: IaC ensures your infrastructure setup is repeatable and consistent across environments.
• Version Control: Changes to infrastructure are tracked like software code, improving traceability.
• Automation: Reduces human error and speeds up provisioning through automation.
• Documentation: The infrastructure code acts as living documentation for your environment.

🛠️ Use Cases:

• Provisioning cloud infrastructure quickly and reliably.
• Maintaining consistency across dev/stage/prod environments.
• Disaster recovery via rapid re-deployment from versioned templates.
• Auditability and governance in infrastructure management.