Use Terraform Explorer for online debugging

Terraform Explorer lets you generate, edit, and run Terraform configuration files online without installing Terraform locally.

Overview

Terraform Explorer is an online tool provided by Alibaba Cloud based on the open-source Terraform version for debugging Terraform configuration files. You can automatically generate and transform configuration files through forms and run Terraform commands directly in the browser.

Features

Terraform configuration files

Terraform configuration files define infrastructure resources as code and are the first step in the IaC workflow. You define Alibaba Cloud resources (such as ECS instances and RDS databases) and their dependencies in a configuration file, and Terraform creates and configures them automatically. Terraform Explorer supports both auto-generation and online editing of configuration files.

Feature set

Feature point

Feature description

Writing configuration files

Automatically generating configuration files

Select a cloud product and resource type, then click "Start Debugging". Terraform Explorer generates a configuration file that you can refine by filling in parameters through the form.

Online editing of configuration files

Terraform Explorer provides one or more example templates for each resource type. If you do not want to fill in too many parameters or want to create multiple resources, you can select an example template after selecting the resource type, click "Start Debugging" to view the template details and begin debugging.

If the example template does not meet your requirements, click "Edit Mode" in the upper-right corner, edit the content, save, and start debugging.

Terraform online execution

After writing a configuration file, the Terraform workflow proceeds through initialization, preview, and execution. Terraform Explorer runs these steps as debugging tasks, completing each action in sequence.

Feature set	Feature point	Feature description
Executing configuration files	Online initialization	Initialization runs automatically as part of preview and execution.
	Online preview	Click Preview. Terraform Explorer creates a new debugging task or runs `terraform init` and `terraform plan` in an existing debugging task to generate an execution plan. Review the plan and choose to continue or cancel.
	Online execution	Click Execute to run `terraform apply` and create or modify the planned resources. Click Preview and Execute to run `terraform init`, `terraform plan`, and `terraform apply` in sequence without manual confirmation.
	Resource destruction	Click Destroy Resources. Terraform Explorer generates a destruction plan with `terraform plan`. After you confirm, it runs `terraform apply` to destroy all resources in the task.

Benefits

Terraform Explorer provides the core Terraform functionality online, with no local installation, no manual coding, and no state management overhead.

No environment installation required

Terraform Explorer hosts the Terraform client online and accelerates Alibaba Cloud Provider downloads. No local Terraform installation or configuration is needed.

No code writing required

Terraform Explorer auto-generates configuration files through forms for individual resources. Each resource type also includes example templates that you can run with one click.

Templates and parameters from each execution are saved automatically. When you start a new debugging task, you can load content from previous runs.

No state management required

Terraform Explorer manages both local and remote state, using local state by default. It hosts the state for each execution so the same configuration file can run multiple times while preserving Terraform's native state management mechanism and ensuring state security.

Terms

Concept	Description
Version	The Alibaba Cloud Terraform Provider version. The minimum supported version is 1.202.0.
Product	Cloud products supported by each Provider version. Supports fuzzy search by keywords.
Resource type	Resource types available for the selected cloud product in each Provider version. Supports fuzzy search by keywords.
Template	A Terraform configuration file in HCL format with UTF-8 encoding. Generate one by filling in form parameters, or use an example template for a resource type.
Template version	The template used for each debugging task execution is saved as a version. You can view details of each version.
Task	Created each time you click "Start Debugging". Each task has a unique state file and supports only one preview or execution at a time.
Debugging record	Generated for each run (preview or preview and execute) of a task. Each new record builds on the previous one.
Debugging history	Records all debugging tasks for each resource type. You can select a historical task and resume from its latest record.

Access control

Some Terraform Explorer operations require authorization, including creating debugging tasks, previewing, executing, destroying resources, viewing debugging history, and viewing resource details. The following table lists the APIs that require authentication and their related features:

API name	API description	Related feature points (buttons)
CreateExplorerModule	Save template content	Preview, Preview and Execute
GetExplorerModule	Get template content	View template
CreateExplorerModuleVersion	Each time you continue debugging, the template content is saved as a new version	Preview, Preview and Execute, Continue Debugging
ListExplorerModules	List templates	Display example templates
UpdateExplorerModuleAttribute	Update template content	Edit example templates
DeleteExplorerModule	Delete template	Delete example templates
CreateExplorerTask	Create debugging task	Preview, Preview and Execute
GetExplorerTask	Get debugging task details	Debugging results
DeleteExplorerTask	Delete debugging task	Delete task
UpdateExplorerTaskAttribute	Update debugging task	Destroy resources
CreateJob	Create job, run debugging task	Preview, Preview and Execute, Destroy resources
GetJob	Get debugging task execution details	Debugging results
OperateJob	Operate job, execute debugging task after preview	Preview and Execute, Execute, Destroy resources
ListJobs	Get job list—execution records of debugging tasks	Debugging records
CreateExplorerHistory	Record each debugging task	Debugging history
ListExplorerHistories	Get debugging history details and historical parameters	Debugging history, Use historical parameters
ListResources	Get list and details of successfully created resources	Resource details
ExportTerraformCode	Export Terraform code for the selected resources	Online experience

You can implement fine-grained access control through the APIs listed above, or use the following policy for quick authorization:

{
  "Version": "1",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "iacservice:CreateExplorerModuleVersion",
        "iacservice:GetExplorerModule",
        "iacservice:CreateExplorerModule",
        "iacservice:ListExplorerModules",
        "iacservice:UpdateExplorerModuleAttribute",
        "iacservice:DeleteExplorerModule"
      ],
      "Resource": "acs:iacservice:*:*:explorermodule/*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "iacservice:CreateExplorerTask",
        "iacservice:UpdateExplorerTaskAttribute",
        "iacservice:GetExplorerTask",
        "iacservice:DeleteExplorerTask"
      ],
      "Resource": "acs:iacservice:*:*:explorertask/*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "iacservice:CreateJob",
        "iacservice:GetJob",
        "iacservice:listJobs",
        "iacservice:OperateJob"
      ],
      "Resource": "acs:iacservice:*:*:explorertask/*/job/*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "iacservice:ListResources",
        "iacservice:ListExplorerHistories",
        "iacservice:CreateExplorerHistory",
        "iacservice:ExportTerraformCode",
        "iacservice:ListRecentCalls"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}