Terraform Example With Hetzner

2021-01-15

This article shows how to use Terraform to create a single VPS instance using the European Hetzner cloud provider.

Setup

If you have not installed Terraform yet, download and install it following any of the options listed here

Prepare a terraform folder:

1 2	$ mkdir ~/projects/terraform/hetzner $ cd ~/projects/terraform/hetzner

Create a configuration file:

1	touch main.tf

Hezner Configuration

Generate Hetzner Cloud Auth Token:

Visit https://console.hetzner.cloud/projects, choose a project
In Security > API TOKENS, click on GENERATE API TOKEN button.
Enter a name and choose Read & Write
Save it for later

Add an ssh key to Hezner Cloud. This key will be used to access your created instance:

1 2	$ ssh-keygen -b 2048 -q -t rsa # Enter a keyfilename for the key file when prompted

Copy the contents of the generated {keyfilename}.pub:

1	$ xclip -sel clip ~/.ssh/{keyfilename}.pub

Paste the key contents into Hezner Cloud:

In Security > SSH KEYS, click on ADD SSH KEY button
Paste it in the SSH Key section
Click on ADD

After adding the key, a key fingerprint is generated. Fingerprint looks like:

1	de:c7:80:23:5b:3e:28:52:1a:5d:0f:84:1b:fe:38:ec.

Save it for later.

Main Terraform File

Copy the contents of the following gist, paste it into the main.tf file and update AUTH_TOKEN and SSH_KEY_FINGERPRINT values:

Initialize a terraform working directory:

1	$ terraform init

The Hetzner provider will be downloaded by terraform into the .terraform folder:

1	$ tree .terraform/

The following components are downloaded from the terraform registry:

.terraform/
└── plugins
    ├── registry.terraform.io
    │   └── hetznercloud
    │       └── hcloud
    │           └── 1.24.0
    │               └── darwin_amd64
    │                   ├── CHANGELOG.md
    │                   ├── LICENSE
    │                   ├── README.md
    │                   └── terraform-provider-hcloud_v1.24.0
    └── selections.json

In order to run the project and create the server instance, run the command:

1	$ terraform apply

In the command output, you could find the ip address of the newly created server:

1	server_ip_ubuntu18 = 135.181.158.228

Access the instance

Use the printed ip address to ssh into the instace:

1	$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/{keyfilename}.pub root@135.181.158.228

Delete Everything

To delete or destroy the infrastrucutre managed by terraform, run:

1 2	$ terraform destroy # type yes when prompted

If you would like to delete everything without any confirmation prompt, use:

1	$ terraform destroy -auto-approve

Code