How to Deploy an Ubuntu Linux VM in Azure using Terraform

In this story, we will learn how to deploy an Ubuntu Linux VM in Azure using Terraform.

Prerequisites

Before creating our Azure Virtual Machine, we will need an Azure SPN (Service Principal) to execute our Terraform code (check step 1 of this story if you need help creating an SPN).

Creating a Terraform file for Azure Authentication

First, we create a file called provider-variables.tf, used by Azure authentication variables.

We will use a Service Principal with a Client Secret. Check the link below for more info about Azure authentication for Terraform: https://www.terraform.io/docs/providers/azurerm/guides/service_principal_client_secret.html

variable "azure_subscription_id" {
  type = string
  description = "Azure Subscription ID"
}
variable "azure_client_id" {
  type = string
  description = "Azure Client ID"
}
variable "azure_client_secret" {
  type = string
  description = "Azure Client Secret"
}
variable "azure_tenant_id" {
  type = string
  description = "Azure Tenant ID"
}

After that, we edit the file terraform.tfvars and add the Azure credential information:

azure_subscription_id = "your-azure-subscription-id"
azure_client_id = "your-azure-client-id"
azure_client_secret = "your-azure-client-secret"
azure_tenant_id = "your-azure-tenant-id"

Finally, we create the provider-main.tf, used to configure Terraform and the Azure provider:

# Define Terraform provider
terraform {
  required_version = "~> 1.0"
}
# Configure the Azure provider
provider "azurerm" { 
  features {}  
  environment     = "public"
  subscription_id = var.azure-subscription-id
  client_id       = var.azure-client-id
  client_secret   = var.azure-client-secret
  tenant_id       = var.azure-tenant-id
}

Creating a Terraform file for the Network

In this step, we will create the file network-variables.tf to configure network variables and add the following code:

variable…