Create Your First AWS Resources

Create a project

mkdir terraform-demo
cd terraform-demo
touch main.tf

Provider docs live in the Terraform Registry.

Core blocks

Terraform block

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}

This tells Terraform which providers to download and which versions are allowed.

Provider block

provider "aws" {
  region = "ap-southeast-1"
}

This connects Terraform to AWS in a specific region using your local credentials.

Resource block

resource "aws_s3_bucket" "demo" {
  bucket = "terraform-demo-bucket"
}

Syntax:

resource "<resource_type>" "<local_name>" {
  # arguments
}

• resource_type — AWS resource kind (aws_instance, aws_s3_bucket, …)
• local_name — name you use inside Terraform (not the AWS display name)

EC2 docs: aws_instance.

Resource 1 — S3 bucket

main.tf:

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}
 
provider "aws" {
  region = "ap-southeast-1"
}
 
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "demo" {
  bucket = "venkat-terraform-demo-bucket"
}

Apply:

terraform init
terraform validate
terraform plan
terraform apply

Type yes when prompted. Verify in the AWS Console under S3.

Resource 2 — EC2 instance

Update main.tf (replace or add the instance resource):

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}
 
provider "aws" {
  region = "ap-southeast-1"
}
 
resource "aws_instance" "web" {
  ami           = "ami-0df7a207adb9748c7"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
 
  tags = {
    Name = "Terraform-EC2"
  }
}

terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply

Verify in EC2 → Instances. You should see Terraform-EC2 running.

Hands-on labs

Lab 1 — Launch EC2

Create with Terraform:

• 1 EC2 instance
• Name tag set
• t2.micro instance type

Verify the instance is running in the console.

Lab 2 — Create S3

Create with Terraform:

• 1 S3 bucket
• A unique bucket name

Verify the bucket appears in the S3 console.

Clean up

When you are done experimenting:

terraform destroy

Confirm with yes so you are not billed for leftover resources.

Day 1 summary

Infrastructure & IaC
        ↓
Why Terraform + workflow
        ↓
Install Terraform
        ↓
AWS CLI + IAM credentials
        ↓
terraform / provider / resource blocks
        ↓
Create S3 + EC2
        ↓
Hands-on labs