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Aisalkyn Aidarova
Aisalkyn Aidarova

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LAB: Terraform Alias + Workspace + Import (Production Style)

#aws #devops #terraform #tutorial

πŸ“ Project Structure (Skeleton) 

terraform-alias-workspace-import-lab/
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ providers.tf
β”œβ”€β”€ variables.tf
β”œβ”€β”€ main.tf
β”œβ”€β”€ outputs.tf
β”œβ”€β”€ terraform.tfvars.example
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ backend.tf
β”‚
└── scripts/
    └── import.sh
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1️⃣ providers.tf 

terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.5.0"

  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}

# Default provider (primary region)
provider "aws" {
  region = var.primary_region
}

# Alias provider (secondary region)
provider "aws" {
  alias  = "secondary"
  region = var.secondary_region
}
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2️⃣ variables.tf (NO hardcoding) 

variable "project_name" {
  type = string
}

variable "environment" {
  type = string
}

variable "primary_region" {
  type = string
}

variable "secondary_region" {
  type = string
}

variable "bucket_name" {
  type = string
}

variable "common_tags" {
  type = map(string)
  default = {}
}
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3️⃣ main.tf

πŸ”Ή Uses:

  • workspace
  • alias provider
  • dynamic naming 
locals {
  env = terraform.workspace

  name_prefix = "${var.project_name}-${local.env}"

  tags = merge(var.common_tags, {
    Project     = var.project_name
    Environment = local.env
    ManagedBy   = "Terraform"
  })
}

# Primary region bucket
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "primary" {
  bucket = "${local.name_prefix}-primary"

  tags = local.tags
}

# Secondary region bucket (alias usage)
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "secondary" {
  provider = aws.secondary

  bucket = "${local.name_prefix}-secondary"

  tags = local.tags
}
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4️⃣ outputs.tf 

output "primary_bucket" {
  value = aws_s3_bucket.primary.bucket
}

output "secondary_bucket" {
  value = aws_s3_bucket.secondary.bucket
}

output "workspace" {
  value = terraform.workspace
}
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5️⃣ terraform.tfvars.example 

project_name     = "jumptotech"
environment      = "dev"
primary_region   = "us-east-2"
secondary_region = "us-west-1"

common_tags = {
  Owner = "DevOpsTeam"
}
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6️⃣ backend.tf (Optional but Production Style) 

terraform {
  backend "s3" {}
}
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terraform init \
  -backend-config="bucket=YOUR-TF-STATE-BUCKET" \
  -backend-config="key=alias-workspace/terraform.tfstate" \
  -backend-config="region=us-east-2" \
  -backend-config="dynamodb_table=terraform-locks"
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7️⃣ scripts/import.sh 

#!/bin/bash

# Usage:
# ./import.sh <bucket_name>

BUCKET_NAME=$1

if [ -z "$BUCKET_NAME" ]; then
  echo "Usage: ./import.sh <bucket_name>"
  exit 1
fi

echo "Importing existing S3 bucket..."

terraform import aws_s3_bucket.primary $BUCKET_NAME
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πŸš€ STEP-BY-STEP EXECUTION

Step 1: Initialize 

terraform init
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Step 2: Create Workspaces 

terraform workspace new dev
terraform workspace new stage
terraform workspace new prod
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Switch:

terraform workspace select dev
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Step 3: Plan & Apply 

terraform plan -var-file="terraform.tfvars"
terraform apply -var-file="terraform.tfvars"
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Step 4: Verify Workspace Behavior

Switch workspace:

terraform workspace select stage
terraform apply -var-file="terraform.tfvars"
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πŸ‘‰ Creates different buckets automatically

Step 5: IMPORT (IMPORTANT)

πŸ”₯ Scenario:

Bucket already exists (created manually)

aws s3 mb s3://jumptotech-dev-primary
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Now import:

./scripts/import.sh jumptotech-dev-primary
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Step 6: Verify Import 

terraform plan
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Expected:

No changes. Infrastructure is up-to-date.
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🧠 KEY CONCEPTS (Explain to Students)

πŸ”Ή 1. Alias Provider 

provider = aws.secondary
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➑️ Allows:

  • Multi-region
  • Multi-account

πŸ”Ή 2. Workspace 

terraform.workspace
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➑️ Automatically separates:

  • dev
  • stage
  • prod

πŸ”Ή 3. Import 

terraform import RESOURCE_NAME RESOURCE_ID
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➑️ Example:

terraform import aws_s3_bucket.primary my-bucket
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πŸ”Ή 4. Why Import is Critical

Without import:

  • Terraform will try to recreate resource
  • Can cause data loss / conflicts

πŸ”Ή 5. No Hardcoding

Everything comes from:

  • variables.tf
  • tfvars
  • workspace

🎯 REAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (FROM THIS LAB)

  1. What is provider alias and when do you use it?
  2. Difference between workspace and separate state files?
  3. What happens if you don’t import existing resources?
  4. Can you import into module?
  5. How do you manage multi-region deployments?
  6. What is terraform.workspace used for?

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