HCP Terraform (formerly known as Terraform Cloud) is HashiCorp's managed service platform designed to help teams collaborate on infrastructure as code using Terraform. It provides a centralized environment where organizations can manage their Terraform workflows efficiently and securely.
Key featu…HCP Terraform (formerly known as Terraform Cloud) is HashiCorp's managed service platform designed to help teams collaborate on infrastructure as code using Terraform. It provides a centralized environment where organizations can manage their Terraform workflows efficiently and securely.
Key features of HCP Terraform include:
**Remote State Management**: HCP Terraform stores your Terraform state files securely in the cloud, enabling team collaboration while preventing state file conflicts. State is encrypted at rest and versioned for easy rollback capabilities.
**Workspaces**: These are isolated environments that contain their own state, variables, and configurations. Workspaces allow teams to manage multiple infrastructure deployments from a single codebase, such as development, staging, and production environments.
**Version Control Integration**: HCP Terraform connects with popular VCS providers like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. This enables automatic Terraform runs when code changes are pushed, supporting GitOps workflows.
**Policy as Code with Sentinel**: Organizations can enforce compliance and governance policies using Sentinel, HashiCorp's policy-as-code framework. This ensures infrastructure changes meet organizational standards before being applied.
**Private Module Registry**: Teams can publish and share reusable Terraform modules internally, promoting consistency and reducing code duplication across projects.
**Cost Estimation**: Before applying changes, HCP Terraform can estimate the cost impact of infrastructure modifications, helping teams make informed decisions.
**Run Triggers**: Workspaces can be connected so that changes in one workspace automatically trigger runs in dependent workspaces, maintaining infrastructure dependencies.
**Team Management and RBAC**: Organizations can define teams with granular permissions, controlling who can read, plan, or apply changes to specific workspaces.
HCP Terraform offers multiple tiers including a free tier for small teams and paid tiers for enterprises requiring advanced features like SSO, audit logging, and enhanced support. It eliminates the operational overhead of managing Terraform infrastructure while providing enterprise-grade security and collaboration capabilities.
HCP Terraform Overview
What is HCP Terraform?
HCP Terraform (formerly known as Terraform Cloud) is HashiCorp's managed service offering for Terraform. It provides a centralized platform for teams to collaborate on infrastructure as code, offering remote state management, policy enforcement, and a private registry for modules and providers.
Why is HCP Terraform Important?
HCP Terraform addresses several critical challenges in infrastructure management:
1. Collaboration: Teams can work together on infrastructure code with shared state, preventing conflicts and ensuring consistency.
2. Security: Sensitive state data and variables are stored securely in the cloud rather than on local machines.
3. Governance: Organizations can enforce policies using Sentinel or OPA to ensure compliance before infrastructure changes are applied.
4. Automation: Integrates with version control systems to automatically trigger runs when code changes.
How HCP Terraform Works
HCP Terraform operates through several key components:
Workspaces: The fundamental unit of organization, each workspace contains its own Terraform configuration, state data, and variables. Workspaces can be connected to VCS repositories or managed via CLI/API.
Remote Operations: Terraform plans and applies run on HCP Terraform's infrastructure, not locally. This ensures consistent execution environments and centralized logging.
State Management: State files are stored remotely with versioning, locking, and encryption. This eliminates the need for manual state file management.
Private Registry: Organizations can publish and share private modules and providers across teams.
Run Workflow: 1. Code is pushed to version control or initiated via CLI 2. HCP Terraform queues a run 3. Plan phase executes and shows proposed changes 4. Policy checks run (if configured) 5. Apply phase executes after approval
Pricing Tiers
HCP Terraform offers multiple tiers: - Free: Up to 500 managed resources per month - Standard: Team features with additional resources - Plus: Advanced security and governance features - Enterprise: Self-hosted option with full feature set
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on HCP Terraform Overview
Key Concepts to Remember:
1. Remote State Storage: HCP Terraform stores state remotely with automatic locking - understand this prevents state corruption during concurrent operations.
2. Workspaces vs Local Workspaces: HCP Terraform workspaces are fundamentally different from CLI workspaces. Each HCP Terraform workspace has its own state, variables, and configuration.
3. Execution Modes: Know the difference between remote execution (runs on HCP Terraform) and local execution (runs on your machine but stores state remotely).
4. VCS Integration: Understand that HCP Terraform can connect to GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps for automatic run triggers.
5. Sentinel: This is HashiCorp's policy-as-code framework used in HCP Terraform for governance.
Common Exam Scenarios:
- Questions about where state is stored when using HCP Terraform (answer: remotely in HCP Terraform) - Questions about how teams collaborate (answer: through shared workspaces and remote state) - Questions about policy enforcement timing (answer: policies run after plan, before apply) - Questions comparing HCP Terraform to Terraform Enterprise (answer: Enterprise is self-hosted, HCP Terraform is SaaS)
Pro Tip: When you see questions about team collaboration, state locking, or policy enforcement, consider whether HCP Terraform features are the correct answer. The exam often tests understanding of when HCP Terraform provides advantages over local Terraform usage.