Infrastructure as Code - Terraform & AWS CDK

Purpose: Automate infrastructure provisioning with code for consistency, version control, and repeatability

Agent: Amazon Cloud Architect / Google SRE Use When: Setting up cloud infrastructure, managing environments, or automating deployments

---

Terraform

Basic Example

# main.tf
terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "aws" {
  region = var.aws_region
}

# VPC
resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
  cidr_block           = "10.0.0.0/16"
  enable_dns_hostnames = true

  tags = {
    Name = "${var.project_name}-vpc"
  }
}

# Subnet
resource "aws_subnet" "public" {
  vpc_id                  = aws_vpc.main.id
  cidr_block              = "10.0.1.0/24"
  availability_zone       = "${var.aws_region}a"
  map_public_ip_on_launch = true

  tags = {
    Name = "${var.project_name}-public-subnet"
  }
}

# Security Group
resource "aws_security_group" "web" {
  name        = "${var.project_name}-web-sg"
  description = "Allow HTTP/HTTPS inbound traffic"
  vpc_id      = aws_vpc.main.id

  ingress {
    from_port   = 80
    to_port     = 80
    protocol    = "tcp"
    cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
  }

  ingress {
    from_port   = 443
    to_port     = 443
    protocol    = "tcp"
    cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
  }

  egress {
    from_port   = 0
    to_port     = 0
    protocol    = "-1"
    cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
  }
}

# EC2 Instance
resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = data.aws_ami.ubuntu.id
  instance_type = var.instance_type
  subnet_id     = aws_subnet.public.id
  vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.web.id]

  user_data = <<-EOF
              #!/bin/bash
              apt-get update
              apt-get install -y nginx
              systemctl start nginx
              EOF

  tags = {
    Name = "${var.project_name}-web-server"
  }
}

# Output
output "instance_public_ip" {
  value = aws_instance.web.public_ip
}

Variables

# variables.tf
variable "aws_region" {
  description = "AWS region"
  type        = string
  default     = "us-east-1"
}

variable "project_name" {
  description = "Project name prefix"
  type        = string
}

variable "instance_type" {
  description = "EC2 instance type"
  type        = string
  default     = "t3.micro"
}

Commands

# Initialize
terraform init

# Plan (preview changes)
terraform plan

# Apply (create resources)
terraform apply

# Destroy (delete resources)
terraform destroy

# Format code
terraform fmt

# Validate syntax
terraform validate

---

AWS CDK (TypeScript)

Basic Stack

import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib'
import * as ec2 from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ec2'
import * as ecs from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ecs'
import * as ecs_patterns from 'aws-cdk-lib/aws-ecs-patterns'

export class AppStack extends cdk.Stack {
  constructor(scope: cdk.App, id: string, props?: cdk.StackProps) {
    super(scope, id, props)

    // VPC with public and private subnets
    const vpc = new ec2.Vpc(this, 'AppVpc', {
      maxAzs: 2,
      natGateways: 1
    })

    // ECS Cluster
    const cluster = new ecs.Cluster(this, 'AppCluster', {
      vpc,
      clusterName: 'app-cluster'
    })

    // Fargate Service with ALB
    const service = new ecs_patterns.ApplicationLoadBalancedFargateService(
      this,
      'AppService',
      {
        cluster,
        taskImageOptions: {
          image: ecs.ContainerImage.fromRegistry('nginx'),
          containerPort: 80,
          environment: {
            NODE_ENV: 'production'
          }
        },
        desiredCount: 2,
        publicLoadBalancer: true
      }
    )

    // Auto scaling
    const scaling = service.service.autoScaleTaskCount({
      minCapacity: 2,
      maxCapacity: 10
    })

    scaling.scaleOnCpuUtilization('CpuScaling', {
      targetUtilizationPercent: 70
    })

    // Output
    new cdk.CfnOutput(this, 'LoadBalancerDNS', {
      value: service.loadBalancer.loadBalancerDnsName
    })
  }
}

App Entry Point

// bin/app.ts
#!/usr/bin/env node
import * as cdk from 'aws-cdk-lib'
import { AppStack } from '../lib/app-stack'

const app = new cdk.App()

new AppStack(app, 'DevStack', {
  env: {
    account: process.env.CDK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT,
    region: 'us-east-1'
  },
  tags: {
    Environment: 'dev'
  }
})

new AppStack(app, 'ProdStack', {
  env: {
    account: process.env.CDK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT,
    region: 'us-east-1'
  },
  tags: {
    Environment: 'production'
  }
})

Commands

# Install CDK
npm install -g aws-cdk

# Bootstrap (first time)
cdk bootstrap

# Synthesize CloudFormation
cdk synth

# Deploy
cdk deploy DevStack

# Destroy
cdk destroy DevStack

# Diff
cdk diff DevStack

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Best Practices

General

• Version control everything
• Use modules/constructs for reusability
• Separate environments (dev, staging, prod)
• Use remote state (S3 + DynamoDB for Terraform)
• Tag all resources
• Implement least privilege IAM

Terraform

• Use workspaces for environments
• Lock state file
• Use terraform plan before apply
• Store sensitive data in AWS Secrets Manager
• Use data sources for existing resources

CDK

• Use constructs library (L2/L3)
• Test stacks with assertions
• Use aspects for cross-cutting concerns
• Leverage TypeScript type safety

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Remember: IaC makes infrastructure reproducible and auditable. Treat it like application code: version control, review, test.

Created: 2026-02-04 Maintained By: Amazon Cloud Architect