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Ahmed Helmi
Ahmed Helmi

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How to Use a Terraform Provider Locally

#terraform #devops #infrastructureascode #tutorial

Recently, I was working on a project that needed Terraform, but there was a catch; I had to work in an environment where there is no access to the Terraform Registry. So, I had to figure out how to use a Terraform provider locally, without relying on Terraform’s online registry. If you’re in a similar boat whether for testing, security, or any other reason then this guide is for you!

Terraform doesn’t just pick up providers from your directory automatically. You need to set things up manually, and that’s where my scripts come in.

Step 1: Get Your Provider Binary

Binary file example

First, grab your provider binary file (in this case, we’re using vsphere with version 2.10.0). Make sure it's in your working directory before running the script.

Step 2: Run the PowerShell Script (Windows)

Save the following script as setup-local-provider.ps1 and execute it in your PowerShell terminal:

# PowerShell script to setup local Terraform provider in current directory $version = "2.10.0" $provider = "vsphere" $providerBinary = "terraform-provider-$provider`_v$version.exe" # Function to create terraform.rc file function Create-TerraformRC { $rcContent = @" provider_installation { filesystem_mirror { path = "$PWD\.terraform\plugins" } direct { exclude = ["registry.terraform.io/*/*"] } } "@ $rcPath = "$env:APPDATA\terraform.rc" $rcContent | Out-File -FilePath $rcPath -Encoding UTF8 -Force Write-Host "Created terraform.rc at: $rcPath" } # Function to create provider.tf file function Create-ProviderConfig { $tfContent = @" terraform { required_providers { $provider = { source = "hashicorp/$provider" version = "$version" } } } "@ $tfPath = "provider.tf" $tfContent | Out-File -FilePath $tfPath -Encoding UTF8 -Force Write-Host "Created provider.tf configuration" } try { # Verify provider binary exists in current directory if (-not (Test-Path $providerBinary)) { throw "Provider binary not found in current directory: $providerBinary" } # Create directory structure $providerDir = ".terraform/plugins/registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/$provider/$version/windows_amd64" New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $providerDir | Out-Null Write-Host "Created provider directory structure" # Copy provider binary Copy-Item -Path $providerBinary -Destination "$providerDir/$providerBinary" -Force Write-Host "Copied provider binary to: $providerDir/$providerBinary" # Create terraform.rc file Create-TerraformRC # Create provider configuration Create-ProviderConfig Write-Host "`nSetup completed successfully!`n" Write-Host "Next steps:" Write-Host "1. Run terraform init -plugin-dir='.terraform/plugins' to initialize your working directory" Write-Host "2. Create your terraform configuration files (.tf)" Write-Host "3. Run 'terraform plan' to verify the setup" } catch { Write-Host "Error: $_" -ForegroundColor Red exit 1 }
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Step 3: Run the Linux Script (Linux/macOS)

Save the following script as setup-local-provider.sh and execute it in your terminal:

#!/bin/bash version="2.10.0" provider="vsphere" provider_binary="terraform-provider-$provider_v$version" # Function to create terraform.rc file create_terraform_rc() { cat <<EOF > ~/.terraformrc provider_installation { filesystem_mirror { path = "$PWD/.terraform/plugins" } direct { exclude = ["registry.terraform.io/*/*"] } } EOF  echo "Created terraform.rc at ~/.terraformrc" } # Function to create provider.tf file create_provider_config() { cat <<EOF > provider.tf terraform { required_providers { $provider = { source = "hashicorp/$provider" version = "$version" } } } EOF  echo "Created provider.tf configuration" } # Main setup if [ ! -f "$provider_binary" ]; then echo "Error: Provider binary not found in current directory: $provider_binary" >&2 exit 1 fi # Create directory structure provider_dir=".terraform/plugins/registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/$provider/$version/linux_amd64" mkdir -p "$provider_dir" echo "Created provider directory structure" # Copy provider binary cp "$provider_binary" "$provider_dir/" echo "Copied provider binary to: $provider_dir/$provider_binary" # Create terraform.rc file create_terraform_rc # Create provider configuration create_provider_config echo -e "\nSetup completed successfully!\n" echo "Next steps:" echo "1. Run twtrito initialize your working directory" echo "2. Create your terraform configuration files (.tf)" echo "3. Run 'terraform plan' to verify the setup"
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Running the script

Step 4: Initialize Terraform

Run:

terraform init -plugin-dir='.terraform/plugins'
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init output

This tells Terraform to use the local plugin directory instead of trying to download the provider.

Step 5: Verify Your Setup

Try running:

terraform plan
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If everything is set up correctly, Terraform should recognize the provider and not try to download it from the registry.

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