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How to install Terraform on your macOS

Terraform is an infrastructure-as-code software developed by HashiCorp. The software allows you to define, provision and manage infrastructure using a declarative configuration language called HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language).

You can install Terraform on macOS using 2 different methods.

  1. Install Terraform using Homebrew.
  2. Download the binary package.
How to install Terraform on your macOS Gulian Technology
Gulian Technology

Install Terraform using Homebrew

To install Terraform using Homebrew, follow the below steps.

Add the HashiCorp Homebrew repository

You can use the below command to add the HashiCorp repository to Homebrew.

pgulian@Mac ~ % brew tap hashicorp/tap
==> Auto-updating Homebrew...
Adjust how often this is run with HOMEBREW_AUTO_UPDATE_SECS or disable with
HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE. Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/portable-ruby/portable-ruby/blobs/sha256:d9faa506c014dedc0b034a68103ba75c9a58242f4d6c67b6ca0f649c39602bcf
############################################################################################################### 100.0%
==> Pouring portable-ruby-3.3.7.arm64_big_sur.bottle.tar.gz
==> Auto-updated Homebrew!
Add the HashiCorp Homebrew repository
Add the HashiCorp Homebrew repository

Install Terraform using the brew command

After you have added the HashiCorp repository, you just need to run one command to install Terraform.

pgulian@Mac ~ % brew install hashicorp/tap/terraform
terraform 1.10.3 is already installed but outdated (so it will be upgraded).
==> Fetching hashicorp/tap/terraform
==> Downloading https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/1.10.5/terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64.zip
############################################################################################################### 100.0%
==> Upgrading hashicorp/tap/terraform
  1.10.3 -> 1.10.5 
🍺  /opt/homebrew/Cellar/terraform/1.10.5: 5 files, 84.6MB, built in 1 second
==> Running `brew cleanup terraform`...
Disable this behaviour by setting HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP.
Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).
Removing: /opt/homebrew/Cellar/terraform/1.10.3... (5 files, 84.6MB)
Removing: /Users/pgulian/Library/Caches/Homebrew/terraform--1.10.3.zip... (25MB)
==> `brew cleanup` has not been run in the last 30 days, running now...
Disable this behaviour by setting HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP.
Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).
Removing: /Users/pgulian/Library/Caches/Homebrew/python@3.12--3.12.8... (15.6MB)
Removing: /Users/pgulian/Library/Logs/Homebrew/python@3.13... (2 files, 2KB)
pgulian@Mac ~ %
Install Terraform using the brew command
Install Terraform using the brew command

Download the binary package

The second method is to download the binary package. To do this, visit the Hashicorp website here and click Download.

Download the binary package
Download the binary package

You can navigate to your Downloads directory and extract the binary package. Next, change the directory into terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64 and move the terraform executable file to /usr/local/bin.

pgulian@Mac Downloads % ls terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64.zip 
terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64.zip
pgulian@Mac Downloads % unzip terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64
Archive:  terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64.zip
  inflating: LICENSE.txt             
  inflating: terraform               
pgulian@Mac Downloads % 
pgulian@Mac Downloads % 
pgulian@Mac Downloads % cd terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64 
pgulian@Mac terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64 % sudo mv terraform /usr/local/bin
Password:
Sorry, try again.
Password:
pgulian@Mac terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64 % ls /usr/local/bin/terraform 
/usr/local/bin/terraform
pgulian@Mac terraform_1.10.5_darwin_arm64 %
Unzip the binary package and move the terraform executable file to /usr/local/bin
Unzip the binary package and move the terraform executable file to /usr/local/bin

Confirm that Terraform is installed correctly

By running the terraform version command, you can confirm that Terraform is installed correctly.

pgulian@Mac ~ % /usr/local/bin/terraform  version
Terraform v1.10.5
on darwin_arm64
pgulian@Mac ~ %
Confirm that Terraform is configured correctly
Confirm that Terraform is configured correctly

Generate a local file using Terraform and the local provider

After installing Terraform, I will generate a local file using Terraform and the local provider.

Write a configuration file

You need to create a configuration file. I have created the main.tf file and added the following content to it. In my example, I used the local provider. The local_file resource will generate a local file with the name specified in the filename argument and will contain the content specified in the content argument.

pgulian@Mac terra-repo % ls
main.tf
pgulian@Mac terra-repo % cat main.tf 
resource "local_file" "hello" {
	filename = "/Users/pgulian/terra-repo/hello.txt"
   	content = "Hello from the Terraform generated file"
}
pgulian@Mac terra-repo %
main.tf file
main.tf file

Initialize Terraform

After you have finished writing your configuration file, you need to initialize Terraform with the terraform init command. During this process, Terraform will download the provider and install it on the local machine.

pgulian@Mac terra-repo % terraform init 
Initializing the backend...
Initializing provider plugins...
- Finding latest version of hashicorp/local...
- Installing hashicorp/local v2.5.2...
- Installed hashicorp/local v2.5.2 (signed by HashiCorp)
Terraform has created a lock file .terraform.lock.hcl to record the provider
selections it made above. Include this file in your version control repository
so that Terraform can guarantee to make the same selections by default when
you run "terraform init" in the future.

Terraform has been successfully initialized!

You may now begin working with Terraform. Try running "terraform plan" to see
any changes that are required for your infrastructure. All Terraform commands
should now work.

If you ever set or change modules or backend configuration for Terraform,
rerun this command to reinitialize your working directory. If you forget, other
commands will detect it and remind you to do so if necessary.
pgulian@Mac terra-repo %
Initialize Terraform
Initialize Terraform

Plan changes

The next step is to run the terraform plan command. This command helps you to preview the changes before applying them.

pgulian@Mac terra-repo % terraform plan 

Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan. Resource actions are indicated with
the following symbols:
  + create

Terraform will perform the following actions:

  # local_file.hello will be created
  + resource "local_file" "hello" {
      + content              = "Hello from the Terraform generated file"
      + content_base64sha256 = (known after apply)
      + content_base64sha512 = (known after apply)
      + content_md5          = (known after apply)
      + content_sha1         = (known after apply)
      + content_sha256       = (known after apply)
      + content_sha512       = (known after apply)
      + directory_permission = "0777"
      + file_permission      = "0777"
      + filename             = "/Users/pgulian/terra-repo/hello.txt"
      + id                   = (known after apply)
    }

Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Note: You didn't use the -out option to save this plan, so Terraform can't guarantee to take exactly these actions if
you run "terraform apply" now.
pgulian@Mac terra-repo %
Preview changes with terraform plan command
Preview changes with terraform plan command

Apply the configuration

If you are happy with the generated plan, you need to apply it by running the terraform apply command.

pgulian@Mac terra-repo % terraform apply

Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan. Resource actions are indicated with
the following symbols:
  + create

Terraform will perform the following actions:

  # local_file.hello will be created
  + resource "local_file" "hello" {
      + content              = "Hello from the Terraform generated file"
      + content_base64sha256 = (known after apply)
      + content_base64sha512 = (known after apply)
      + content_md5          = (known after apply)
      + content_sha1         = (known after apply)
      + content_sha256       = (known after apply)
      + content_sha512       = (known after apply)
      + directory_permission = "0777"
      + file_permission      = "0777"
      + filename             = "/Users/pgulian/terra-repo/hello.txt"
      + id                   = (known after apply)
    }

Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.

Do you want to perform these actions?
  Terraform will perform the actions described above.
  Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve.

  Enter a value: yes

local_file.hello: Creating...
local_file.hello: Creation complete after 0s [id=5595f2cc190fc52db4d7c15939adb1ef821dfa19]

Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.
pgulian@Mac terra-repo %
Apply the configuration changes with terraform apply command
Apply the configuration changes with terraform apply command

Confirm that the file hello.txt was created

After running the terraform apply command, you can confirm that the file hello.txt was created in the specified directory and that it has the correct content.

pgulian@Mac terra-repo % ls
hello.txt		main.tf			terraform.tfstate
pgulian@Mac terra-repo % cat hello.txt 
Hello from the Terraform generated file%                                                                              pgulian@Mac terra-repo %
Confirm that the file hello.txt was created
Confirm that the file hello.txt was created

Destroy the configuration

If you do not need to maintain the created file (deployed infrastructure), you can remove it with the terraform destroy command.

pgulian@Mac terra-repo % terraform destroy
local_file.hello: Refreshing state... [id=5595f2cc190fc52db4d7c15939adb1ef821dfa19]

Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan. Resource actions are indicated with
the following symbols:
  - destroy

Terraform will perform the following actions:

  # local_file.hello will be destroyed
  - resource "local_file" "hello" {
      - content              = "Hello from the Terraform generated file" -> null
      - content_base64sha256 = "1qus2KPQO3tdeCPl7QqnzO9SRj59PcA4lt3MDuJ9ruI=" -> null
      - content_base64sha512 = "JMSjf0IKjcrrxlGtuTlFpGqH+khYwvlJlV4hgEEL19Sups6wkOdPBz8R5szpV33Up8lH2FBsACHNBvjUMxvzFw==" -> null
      - content_md5          = "1973158f0191822bdc7c64fa6a6f61f7" -> null
      - content_sha1         = "5595f2cc190fc52db4d7c15939adb1ef821dfa19" -> null
      - content_sha256       = "d6abacd8a3d03b7b5d7823e5ed0aa7ccef52463e7d3dc03896ddcc0ee27daee2" -> null
      - content_sha512       = "24c4a37f420a8dcaebc651adb93945a46a87fa4858c2f949955e2180410bd7d4aea6ceb090e74f073f11e6cce9577dd4a7c947d8506c0021cd06f8d4331bf317" -> null
      - directory_permission = "0777" -> null
      - file_permission      = "0777" -> null
      - filename             = "/Users/pgulian/terra-repo/hello.txt" -> null
      - id                   = "5595f2cc190fc52db4d7c15939adb1ef821dfa19" -> null
    }

Plan: 0 to add, 0 to change, 1 to destroy.

Do you really want to destroy all resources?
  Terraform will destroy all your managed infrastructure, as shown above.
  There is no undo. Only 'yes' will be accepted to confirm.

  Enter a value: yes

local_file.hello: Destroying... [id=5595f2cc190fc52db4d7c15939adb1ef821dfa19]
local_file.hello: Destruction complete after 0s

Destroy complete! Resources: 1 destroyed.
pgulian@Mac terra-repo % cat hello.txt
cat: hello.txt: No such file or directory
pgulian@Mac terra-repo %
Remove the infrastructure with terraform destroy command
Remove the infrastructure with terraform destroy command

You can confirm that the infrastructure was destroyed by running the cat hello.txt command.

Confirm that the file hello.txt was removed from the system
Confirm that the file hello.txt was removed from the system

Great job. You have installed Terraform on your macOS and deployed infrastructure-as-code using it.

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