Terraform Basics - Managing Infrastructure as Code

Updated in May 2025. This course now features Coursera Coach — your interactive learning companion that helps you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress. Build a strong foundation in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with this hands-on introduction to managing cloud environments using Terraform. Designed for beginners, this course guides you step by step through automating infrastructure provisioning, writing configurations in HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL), and deploying real resources on AWS. You’ll begin by setting up your environment, configuring AWS with multi-factor authentication, installing Terraform, and preparing Visual Studio Code for an efficient workflow. Once your tools are ready, you’ll explore Terraform’s core concepts, including providers, resources, variables, and state management — the building blocks of reliable and repeatable cloud automation. As you progress, you’ll apply your skills to practical AWS projects, creating EC2 instances, provisioning S3 buckets, and managing configurations through the Terraform CLI. Each module blends explanation with hands-on tasks so you gain not just theoretical understanding, but real experience building cloud infrastructure the professional way. By the end of this course, you will have: - Automated cloud provisioning using Terraform and AWS. - Written clean, reusable configurations using HCL. - Managed Terraform state effectively for safe, collaborative workflows. - Gained practical experience using AWS CLI and Terraform CLI. - Developed the confidence to support IaC projects in real environments. This course is ideal for beginners who want to learn cloud automation. No Terraform experience is required, but basic cloud knowledge is helpful. Whether you’re pursuing a DevOps path or strengthening your cloud fundamentals, this course gives you the skills to get started with Infrastructure as Code.