Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform and GitHub Actions: the ideal combo?

Introduction: automation and control from the start

Have you ever experienced the pain of manually configuring production or staging environments? If so, you know how costly (and risky) this can be. In this scenario, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) stands out as one of the most efficient approaches to ensure predictability, control, and scalability. And among the most popular tools are Terraform and GitHub Actions.

But is using them together really the ideal combo? In this article, we'll explore why this combination has won the hearts of DevOps teams and how you can apply it to optimize your workflow.

---

What is IaC and why does it matter?

IaC (Infrastructure as Code) allows you to describe your infrastructure through code. Instead of clicking buttons in the AWS or GCP panel, you write files that define servers, networks, databases, and permissions.

Advantages of IaC:

• Reproducibility between environments (production, staging, dev)
• Traceability through versioning (ex: Git)
• Less chance of human errors
• Ease in scaling and automating changes

---

Terraform: declarative language and total control

Terraform, from HashiCorp, is one of the most widely used tools for IaC. With it, you declare the infrastructure you want and the tool takes care of applying the changes.

Highlights of Terraform:

• Support for multiple providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, Cloudflare, etc.)
• Modularization for reuse of configurations
• Change analysis before application (plan vs apply)
• State storage for infrastructure version control

---

GitHub Actions: CI/CD without leaving the repository

GitHub Actions is GitHub's own automation solution. It allows you to create continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines based on repository events (like a push or pull request).

Advantages of using Actions:

• Native integration with GitHub
• Flexibility to run any script or command
• Active community with hundreds of ready-made actions
• Ideal to combine with Terraform in GitOps workflows

---

Combining Terraform + GitHub Actions

Now comes the gold: how to combine the two tools to create an automated and secure IaC workflow?

Example of workflow:

1. Dev pushes to the repository with Terraform changes
2. GitHub Action validates the code with terraform fmt and terraform validate
3. If everything is correct, runs terraform plan
4. After approval, applies with terraform apply

You can also configure different workflows for different environments (dev, staging, production) and protect the main branch with mandatory reviews.

---

Practical example: GitHub Actions for Terraform

name: Terraform Workflow

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  terraform:
    name: 'Terraform Apply'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Terraform
        uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v2

      - name: Terraform Init
        run: terraform init

      - name: Terraform Validate
        run: terraform validate

      - name: Terraform Plan
        run: terraform plan

      - name: Terraform Apply
        run: terraform apply -auto-approve

This is a basic example, but you can evolve with conditional environments, approval steps, remote storage for state, and security via OIDC.

---

Security considerations

It's essential to avoid leaking keys, secrets, or credentials in your code or workflows. Use:

• GitHub Secrets to store sensitive variables
• OIDC (OpenID Connect) for federated login with AWS/GCP
• Manual reviews for production applications

---

When NOT to use?

Even though it's an excellent combination, GitHub Actions + Terraform is not the ideal solution for all cases. Avoid if:

• Your team doesn't master GitHub Actions (can cause delays)
• You need extremely complex workflows with multiple environments and cross-dependencies
• There are compliance restrictions that require dedicated CI/CD tools

---

Conclusion: automated, secure, and efficient IaC

The combination of Terraform with GitHub Actions represents a powerful way to implement IaC with version control, security, and automation. It brings agility to the DevOps team, predictability to the business, and fewer errors in infrastructure management.

Start small, with staging environments, validate your workflow, and evolve to production. Over time, you'll realize how much this combo can transform your delivery cycle.

---

Ready to accelerate your business with automation?

Contact our team and discover how we can transform your operation with modern DevOps practices.

Request a quote