Terraform Tutorial — Terraform Cloud Backend

Terraform Cloud (HCP Terraform) provides a managed backend with built-in state storage, locking, team access, and a UI.

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Configuration

terraform {
  cloud {
    organization = "my-company"

    workspaces {
      name = "web-app-prod"
    }
  }
}

Or the older remote backend syntax:

terraform {
  backend "remote" {
    organization = "my-company"

    workspaces {
      name = "web-app-prod"
    }
  }
}

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Setup Steps

1. Create an account at app.terraform.io
2. Create an organization
3. Generate an API token: terraform login
4. Add the cloud block to your configuration
5. Run terraform init

$ terraform login
# Opens browser for authentication

$ terraform init
Initializing Terraform Cloud...

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Features

Feature	S3 Backend	Terraform Cloud
State storage	✅	✅
Locking	✅ (DynamoDB)	✅ (built-in)
Encryption	✅ (SSE)	✅ (built-in)
State history	✅ (versioning)	✅ (UI + API)
Remote runs	❌	✅
Policy as Code	❌	✅ (Sentinel)
Team management	❌ (IAM)	✅ (built-in)
Cost estimation	❌	✅
Free tier	N/A (S3 costs)	Up to 500 resources

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When to Use Terraform Cloud

Scenario	Recommendation
Small team, AWS-only	S3 backend is simpler
Multi-cloud team	Terraform Cloud
Need policy enforcement	Terraform Cloud (Sentinel)
Want a UI for state	Terraform Cloud
Enterprise compliance	Terraform Enterprise (self-hosted)

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What’s Next?

Learn how to migrate state between backends and configure .gitignore.

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← DynamoDB Locking Backend Migration and .gitignore →