Скачать или смотреть How to Create a New Workspace in Terraform Cloud Using the CLI

Discover how to dynamically create a new workspace in Terraform Cloud through the CLI without needing an existing workspace, allowing for efficient setup of ephemeral review environments.
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Creating a New Workspace in Terraform Cloud via CLI

Setting up ephemeral review environments in GitLab Merge Requests requires a dynamic approach, especially when using Terraform Cloud as your backend. However, a common issue arises: how can you create a new workspace in Terraform Cloud using the CLI without having an existing workspace? This situation can be quite frustrating, particularly when you aim for automation in your CI/CD pipelines. In this guide, we'll explore the problem you faced and delve into a workable solution, ensuring you can streamline your Terraform workflows efficiently.

Understanding the Problem

When working with Terraform Cloud, creating a workspace traditionally requires at least one existing workspace. The typical workflow you might follow is as follows:

Run terraform init, which initializes your Terraform configuration.

Run terraform workspace new <workspace-name> to create a new workspace.

However, if there is no existing workspace, invoking the init command will fail, creating a catch-22 situation. This issue is particularly troublesome when you want to create ephemeral environments for every merge request dynamically based on environment variables set in GitLab CI.

The Solution: Dynamic Workspace Creation in CI/CD

To tackle this issue, we can leverage a unique approach that doesn't require existing workspaces. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the solution you can implement in your GitLab CI configuration.

Step 1: Define Your Workspace Name

Start by defining a workspace name using environment variables. This example creates a unique workspace based on GitLab project name and the source branch of the merge request.

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Step 2: Initialize Terraform with a Placeholder

Before you can create a new workspace, execute the following command to initialize Terraform with a temporary workspace name. This allows you to bypass the limitation of requiring an existing workspace.

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Step 3: Create or Select the Workspace

Next, you can select the dynamically created workspace. If it doesn't exist, this command will create it.

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Step 4: Destroying the Workspace

When you need to tear down your infrastructure and delete the associated workspace, you can do so with the following script:

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Final Terraform Configuration

Your Terraform configuration should resemble the following:

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Conclusion

By implementing this workflow in your GitLab CI pipeline, you can successfully create new workspaces dynamically in Terraform Cloud without the need for an existing workspace. This not only simplifies the process but also enhances the efficiency of your CI/CD workflow for review environments.

If you have further questions or additional tips on using Terraform Cloud, feel free to share in the comments below!