# Bonus Hands-On Exercise: Creating a Configuration with Variables and Outputs

# Exercise Objective

Participants will enhance their Terraform configuration by adding variables to make resource definitions more dynamic and outputs to capture key information about the resources provisioned (e.g., the name of the Resource Group or its location).

---

# Steps

# Step 1: Define Variables for Resource Configuration

1. Create a variables.tf File:

   • If you haven’t already, create a variables.tf file in your Terraform project directory.

2. Define Variables in variables.tf:

   • Add variable definitions for the Resource Group name and location. This will allow you to change these values dynamically without modifying the resource configuration directly.
   • Example:

     # Define a variable for the Resource Group name
     variable "resource_group_name" {
       description = "The name of the Azure Resource Group"
       type        = string
       default     = "myDynamicResourceGroup"
     }
     
     # Define a variable for the Azure region (location)
     variable "location" {
       description = "The Azure region where the Resource Group will be created"
       type        = string
       default     = "East US"
     }

3. Save the variables.tf File:

   • Save the file to apply the variable definitions to your Terraform configuration.

---

# Step 2: Update main.tf to Use Variables

1. Open the main.tf File:

   • Open your existing main.tf file where the Azure provider and Resource Group resource are defined.

2. Modify the Resource Group to Use Variables:

   • Update the azurerm_resource_group resource block to use the variables defined in variables.tf.
   • Example:

     # Configure the Azure provider
     provider "azurerm" {
       features {}
     }
     
     # Create an Azure Resource Group using variables
     resource "azurerm_resource_group" "example" {
       name     = var.resource_group_name
       location = var.location
     }

   • Here, var.resource_group_name and var.location reference the values of the variables defined in variables.tf, making the configuration more flexible.

3. Save the main.tf File:

   • Save the changes in main.tf.

---

# Step 3: Define Outputs to Capture Resource Information

1. Create an outputs.tf File:

   • In your project directory, create a new file named outputs.tf. This file will contain the output definitions.

2. Define Outputs in outputs.tf:

   • Add output definitions to capture information about the provisioned Resource Group, such as its name and location.
   • Example:

     # Output the Resource Group name
     output "resource_group_name" {
       description = "The name of the resource group"
       value       = azurerm_resource_group.example.name
     }
     
     # Output the Resource Group location
     output "resource_group_location" {
       description = "The location of the resource group"
       value       = azurerm_resource_group.example.location
     }

3. Save the outputs.tf File:

   • Save the outputs.tf file to apply the output definitions to your Terraform configuration.

---

# Step 4: Initialize and Run terraform plan to Preview Changes

1. Initialize the Project (if not already initialized):

   • In the terminal, navigate to the project directory and run:

     terraform init

   • This command downloads necessary provider plugins and prepares the working directory for Terraform operations.

2. Run terraform plan:

   • Run the following command to preview the changes Terraform will make:

     terraform plan

   • The plan output should show that Terraform will create a Resource Group with the specified name and location.

3. Review the Plan Output:

   • Verify that the plan output confirms Terraform will create the specified Resource Group.
   • The output should include information about the planned creation of the Resource Group.

---

# Step 5: Apply the Configuration to Provision the Resource Group

1. Run terraform apply:

   • Run the following command to apply the configuration and create the Resource Group:

     terraform apply

   • When prompted, type "yes" to confirm the apply operation.

2. Review the Output Values:

   • After Terraform completes the apply, check the terminal output for the values of resource_group_name and resource_group_location.
   • Example output:

     Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.
     
     Outputs:
     
     resource_group_name = "myDynamicResourceGroup"
     resource_group_location = "East US"

3. Verify the Resource in the Azure Portal (optional):

   • Go to the Azure Portal and navigate to Resource Groups to confirm that the Resource Group has been created with the correct name and location.

---

# Verification

• Confirm Variable Use:

  • Check that the Resource Group was created with the name and location specified in the variables.

• Confirm Outputs:

  • Verify that the output values for resource_group_name and resource_group_location are displayed after running terraform apply.

• Troubleshoot Issues (if any):

  • If any errors occur, check that the variables are correctly referenced in main.tf and that outputs.tf is properly defined.

---