Install CDK for Terraform and run a quick start demo
The Cloud Development Kit for Terraform (CDKTF) generates JSON Terraform configuration from code in C#, Python, TypeScript, Java, or Go, and creates infrastructure using Terraform. With CDKTF, you can use hundreds of providers and thousands of module definitions provided by HashiCorp and the Terraform community. By using your programming language of choice, you can take advantage of the features and development workflows you are familiar with.
CDKTF uses the Cloud Development Kit from AWS, which provides a set of language-native frameworks for defining infrastructure, and adapters that let underlying provisioning tools use those definitions. CDK for Terraform generates Terraform configuration to provision infrastructure with Terraform. The adapter works with existing Terraform providers and modules, and integrates with HCP Terraform and Terraform Enterprise. CDKTF uses the core Terraform workflow, including planning and applying your infrastructure changes.
Follow this tutorial to install CDKTF and try a quick start example that provisions a Docker container.
Prerequisites
In order to use CDKTF, you need:
- The Terraform CLI (1.2+).
- Node.js and npm v16+.
To follow the quickstart, you also need:
- Docker.
- a recent version of the programming language prefer. Select a tab below to follow this tutorial with the version of your preferred language that we have tested.
TypeScript v4.4 and Node.js v16.13
Install CDKTF
You can install CDKTF with npm on most operating systems. You can also install
CDKTF with Homebrew on MacOS.
To install the most recent stable release of CDKTF, use npm install with the
@latest tag.
$ npm install --global cdktf-cli@latestVerify the installation
Verify that you have CDKTF installed by running the cdktf help command to show
the available subcommands.
$ cdktf helpcdktf Commands: cdktf init Create a new cdktf project from a template. cdktf get Generate CDK Constructs for Terraform providers and modules. cdktf convert Converts a single file of HCL configuration to CDK for Terraform. Takes the file to be converted on stdin. cdktf deploy [stacks...] Deploy the given stacks [aliases: apply] cdktf destroy [stacks..] Destroy the given stacks cdktf diff [stack] Perform a diff (terraform plan) for the given stack [aliases: plan] cdktf list List stacks in app. cdktf login Retrieves an API token to connect to Terraform Cloud or Terraform Enterprise. cdktf synth Synthesizes Terraform code for the given app in a directory. [aliases: synthesize] cdktf watch [stacks..] [experimental] Watch for file changes and automatically trigger a deploy cdktf output [stacks..] Prints the output of stacks [aliases: outputs] cdktf debug Get debug information about the current project and environment cdktf provider A set of subcommands that facilitates provider management cdktf completion generate completion script Options: --version Show version number [boolean] --disable-plugin-cache-env Dont set TF_PLUGIN_CACHE_DIR automatically. This is useful when the plugin cache is configured differently. Supported using the env CDKTF_DISABLE_PLUGIN_CACHE_ENV. [boolean] [default: false] --log-level Which log level should be written. Only supported via setting the env CDKTF_LOG_LEVEL [string] -h, --help Show help [boolean] Options can be specified via environment variables with the "CDKTF_" prefix(e.g. "CDKTF_OUTPUT")Add --help to any subcommand to learn more about what it does and available options.
$ cdktf init --helpcdktf init Create a new cdktf project from a template. Options: --version Show version number [boolean] --disable-plugin-cache-env Dont set TF_PLUGIN_CACHE_DIR automatically. This is useful when the plugin cache is configured differently. Supported using the env CDKTF_DISABLE_PLUGIN_CACHE_ENV. [boolean] [default: false] --log-level Which log level should be written. Only supported via setting the env CDKTF_LOG_LEVEL [string] --template The template to be used to create a new project. Either URL to zip file or one of the built-in templates: ["csharp", "go", "java", "python", "python-pip", "typescript"] [string] --project-name The name of the project. [string] --project-description The description of the project. [string] --dist Install dependencies from a "dist" directory (for development) [string] --local Use local state storage for generated Terraform. [boolean] [default: false] --cdktf-version The cdktf version to use while creating a new project. [string] [default: "0.13.0"] --from-terraform-project Use a terraform project as the basis, CDK constructs will be generated based on the .tf files in the path [string] --enable-crash-reporting Enable crash reporting for the CLI, refer to https://cdk.tf/crash-reporting for more details [boolean] -h, --help Show help [boolean]Quick start tutorial
Now that you've installed cdktf, write code that will provision an
NGINX server using Docker
Desktop on Mac, Windows, or
Linux.
Start Docker Desktop if it is not already running.
Create and initialize the project
Start by creating a directory named learn-cdktf-docker for the project.
$ mkdir learn-cdktf-dockerThen, navigate into it.
$ cd learn-cdktf-dockerInside the directory, initialize CDKTF with the appropriate template for your
chosen language. Also specify that your project will use the Docker provider,
and include the --local flag to prevent CDKTF from using HCP
Terraform.
CDKTF will prompt you for information about your project, such as the name and description. Accept the defaults for these options.
$ cdktf init --template=typescript --providers=kreuzwerker/docker --localNote: By supplying '--local' option you have chosen local storage mode for storing the state of your stack.This means that your Terraform state file will be stored locally on disk in a file 'terraform.<STACK NAME>.tfstate' in the root of your project.? Project Name learn-cdktf-docker? Project Description A simple getting started project for cdktf.? Do you want to start from an existing Terraform project? No? Do you want to send crash reports to the CDKTF team? Seehttps://www.terraform.io/cdktf/create-and-deploy/configuration-file#enable-crash-reporting-for-the-cli for moreinformation Yes added 2 packages, and audited 57 packages in 5s 7 packages are looking for funding run `npm fund` for details found 0 vulnerabilities added 301 packages, and audited 358 packages in 6s 36 packages are looking for funding run `npm fund` for details found 0 vulnerabilities======================================================================================================== Your cdktf typescript project is ready! cat help Print this message Compile: npm run get Import/update Terraform providers and modules (you should check-in this directory) npm run compile Compile typescript code to javascript (or "npm run watch") npm run watch Watch for changes and compile typescript in the background npm run build Compile typescript Synthesize: cdktf synth [stack] Synthesize Terraform resources from stacks to cdktf.out/ (ready for 'terraform apply') Diff: cdktf diff [stack] Perform a diff (terraform plan) for the given stack Deploy: cdktf deploy [stack] Deploy the given stack Destroy: cdktf destroy [stack] Destroy the stack Test: npm run test Runs unit tests (edit __tests__/main-test.ts to add your own tests) npm run test:watch Watches the tests and reruns them on change Upgrades: npm run upgrade Upgrade cdktf modules to latest version npm run upgrade:next Upgrade cdktf modules to latest "@next" version (last commit) Use Providers: You can add prebuilt providers (if available) or locally generated ones using the add command: cdktf provider add "aws@~>3.0" null kreuzwerker/docker You can find all prebuilt providers on npm: https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=keywords:cdktf You can also install these providers directly through npm: npm install @cdktf/provider-aws npm install @cdktf/provider-google npm install @cdktf/provider-azurerm npm install @cdktf/provider-docker npm install @cdktf/provider-github npm install @cdktf/provider-null You can also build any module or provider locally. Learn more https://cdk.tf/modules-and-providers ======================================================================================================== Checking whether pre-built provider exists for the following constraints: provider: kreuzwerker/docker version : latest language: typescript cdktf : 0.15.0 Found pre-built provider.Package installed.Edit the code
Update your project's code to create a Docker container from the latest NGINX image.
Delete the contents of main.ts and paste the following TypeScript code into
it.
main.ts
import { Construct } from "constructs";import { App, TerraformStack } from "cdktf";import { DockerProvider } from "@cdktf/provider-docker/lib/provider";import { Image } from "@cdktf/provider-docker/lib/image";import { Container } from "@cdktf/provider-docker/lib/container"; class MyStack extends TerraformStack { constructor(scope: Construct, name: string) { super(scope, name); new DockerProvider(this, "docker", {}); const dockerImage = new Image(this, "nginxImage", { name: "nginx:latest", keepLocally: false, }); new Container(this, "nginxContainer", { name: "tutorial", image: dockerImage.name, ports: [ { internal: 80, external: 8000, }, ], }); }} const app = new App();new MyStack(app, "learn-cdktf-docker");app.synth();The CDKTF code above is equivalent to the following HCL configuration.
resource "docker_image" "nginx" { name = "nginx:latest" keep_locally = false} resource "docker_container" "nginx" { image = docker_image.nginx.name name = "tutorial" ports { internal = 80 external = 8000 }}Deploy container
Now run cdktf deploy to compile the code and provision the NGINX Docker
container. CDKTF will print out a report of the changes that Terraform will make
to your infrastructure. Choose Approve to apply these changes.
$ cdktf deploylearn-cdktf-docker Initializing the backend...learn-cdktf-docker Successfully configured the backend "local"! Terraform will automatically use this backend unless the backend configuration changes.learn-cdktf-docker Initializing provider plugins... 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.typescript-docker 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:typescript-docker # docker_container.nginxContainer (nginxContainer) will be created + resource "docker_container" "nginxContainer" { + attach = false##... } # docker_image.nginxImage (nginxImage) will be created + resource "docker_image" "nginxImage" { + id = (known after apply) + keep_locally = false + latest = (known after apply) + name = "nginx:latest" + output = (known after apply) + repo_digest = (known after apply) } Plan: 2 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Saved the plan to: plan To perform exactly these actions, run the following command to apply: terraform apply "plan" Please review the diff output above for typescript-docker❯ Approve Applies the changes outlined in the plan. Dismiss StopVerify the NGINX container exists by visiting
localhost:8000 in your web browser or running docker
ps to find the container.
$ docker psCONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES86ff19f506f4 c316d5a335a5 "/docker-entrypoint.…" 16 seconds ago Up 15 seconds 0.0.0.0:8000->80/tcp tutorialDestroy the container
To remove the container and image, run cdktf destroy. Select Approve to
approve the removal of your container.
$ cdktf destroytypescript-docker Initializing the backend...typescript-docker Initializing provider plugins... - Reusing previous version of kreuzwerker/docker from the dependency lock filetypescript-docker - Using previously-installed kreuzwerker/docker v2.16.0typescript-docker 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.typescript-docker docker_image.nginxImage (nginxImage): Refreshing state... [id=sha256:c316d5a335a5cf324b0dc83b3da82d7608724769f6454f6d9a621f3ec2534a5anginx:latest]typescript-docker docker_container.nginxContainer (nginxContainer): Refreshing state... [id=86ff19f506f470a0ddead8d77d2dc8e6cc8eaeca34358cd1a2df7372567caea3]typescript-docker 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:typescript-docker # docker_container.nginxContainer (nginxContainer) will be destroyed - resource "docker_container" "nginxContainer" { - attach = false -> null - command = [##... } # docker_image.nginxImage (nginxImage) will be destroyed - resource "docker_image" "nginxImage" { - id = "sha256:c316d5a335a5cf324b0dc83b3da82d7608724769f6454f6d9a621f3ec2534a5anginx:latest" -> null - keep_locally = false -> null - latest = "sha256:c316d5a335a5cf324b0dc83b3da82d7608724769f6454f6d9a621f3ec2534a5a" -> null - name = "nginx:latest" -> null - repo_digest = "nginx@sha256:2834dc507516af02784808c5f48b7cbe38b8ed5d0f4837f16e78d00deb7e7767" -> null } Plan: 0 to add, 0 to change, 2 to destroy. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Saved the plan to: plan To perform exactly these actions, run the following command to apply: terraform apply "plan" Please review the diff output above for typescript-docker❯ Approve Applies the changes outlined in the plan. Dismiss StopYou have now provisioned and destroyed an NGINX webserver with CDKTF.
Next steps
Now that you have installed CDKTF, learn how to use it to manage your resources in your preferred programming language.
- Follow our AWS tutorial with TypeScript, Python, Go, C#, and Java.
- Read the CDKTF Documentation.