github.com/iaas-resource-provision/iaas-rpc@v1.0.7-0.20211021023331-ed21f798c408/website/docs/language/providers/index.html.md (about)

     1  ---
     2  layout: "language"
     3  page_title: "Providers - Configuration Language"
     4  ---
     5  
     6  # Providers
     7  
     8  > **Hands-on:** Try the [Perform CRUD Operations with Providers](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/terraform/provider-use?in=terraform/configuration-language&utm_source=WEBSITE&utm_medium=WEB_IO&utm_offer=ARTICLE_PAGE&utm_content=DOCS) tutorial on HashiCorp Learn.
     9  
    10  Terraform relies on plugins called "providers" to interact with cloud providers,
    11  SaaS providers, and other APIs.
    12  
    13  Terraform configurations must declare which providers they require so that
    14  Terraform can install and use them. Additionally, some providers require
    15  configuration (like endpoint URLs or cloud regions) before they can be used.
    16  
    17  ## What Providers Do
    18  
    19  Each provider adds a set of [resource types](/docs/language/resources/index.html)
    20  and/or [data sources](/docs/language/data-sources/index.html) that Terraform can
    21  manage.
    22  
    23  Every resource type is implemented by a provider; without providers, Terraform
    24  can't manage any kind of infrastructure.
    25  
    26  Most providers configure a specific infrastructure platform (either cloud or
    27  self-hosted). Providers can also offer local utilities for tasks like
    28  generating random numbers for unique resource names.
    29  
    30  ## Where Providers Come From
    31  
    32  Providers are distributed separately from Terraform itself, and each provider
    33  has its own release cadence and version numbers.
    34  
    35  The [Terraform Registry](https://registry.terraform.io/browse/providers)
    36  is the main directory of publicly available Terraform providers, and hosts
    37  providers for most major infrastructure platforms.
    38  
    39  ## Provider Documentation
    40  
    41  Each provider has its own documentation, describing its resource
    42  types and their arguments.
    43  
    44  The [Terraform Registry](https://registry.terraform.io/browse/providers)
    45  includes documentation for a wide range of providers developed by HashiCorp, third-party vendors, and our Terraform community. Use the
    46  "Documentation" link in a provider's header to browse its documentation.
    47  
    48  Provider documentation in the Registry is versioned; you can use the version
    49  menu in the header to change which version you're viewing.
    50  
    51  For details about writing, generating, and previewing provider documentation,
    52  see the [provider publishing documentation](/docs/registry/providers/docs.html).
    53  
    54  ## How to Use Providers
    55  
    56  To use resources from a given provider, you need to include some information
    57  about it in your configuration. See the following pages for details:
    58  
    59  - [Provider Requirements](/docs/language/providers/requirements.html)
    60    documents how to declare providers so Terraform can install them.
    61  
    62  - [Provider Configuration](/docs/language/providers/configuration.html)
    63    documents how to configure settings for providers.
    64  
    65  - [Dependency Lock File](/docs/language/dependency-lock.html)
    66    documents an additional HCL file that can be included with a configuration,
    67    which tells Terraform to always use a specific set of provider versions.
    68  
    69  ## Provider Installation
    70  
    71  - Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise install providers as part of every run.
    72  
    73  - Terraform CLI finds and installs providers when
    74    [initializing a working directory](/docs/cli/init/index.html). It can
    75    automatically download providers from a Terraform registry, or load them from
    76    a local mirror or cache. If you are using a persistent working directory, you
    77    must reinitialize whenever you change a configuration's providers.
    78  
    79      To save time and bandwidth, Terraform CLI supports an optional plugin
    80      cache. You can enable the cache using the `plugin_cache_dir` setting in
    81      [the CLI configuration file](/docs/cli/config/config-file.html).
    82  
    83  To ensure Terraform always installs the same provider versions for a given
    84  configuration, you can use Terraform CLI to create a
    85  [dependency lock file](/docs/language/dependency-lock.html)
    86  and commit it to version control along with your configuration. If a lock file
    87  is present, Terraform Cloud, CLI, and Enterprise will all obey it when
    88  installing providers.
    89  
    90  > **Hands-on:** Try the [Lock and Upgrade Provider Versions](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/terraform/provider-versioning?in=terraform/configuration-language&utm_source=WEBSITE&utm_medium=WEB_IO&utm_offer=ARTICLE_PAGE&utm_content=DOCS) tutorial on HashiCorp Learn.
    91  
    92  ## How to Find Providers
    93  
    94  To find providers for the infrastructure platforms you use, browse
    95  [the providers section of the Terraform Registry](https://registry.terraform.io/browse/providers).
    96  
    97  Some providers on the Registry are developed and published by HashiCorp, some
    98  are published by platform maintainers, and some are published by users and
    99  volunteers. The provider listings use the following badges to indicate who
   100  develops and maintains a given provider.
   101  
   102  <table border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
   103  <tbody>
   104  <tr style="height: 21px;">
   105  <td style="width: 12.4839%; height: 21px;"><strong>Tier</strong></td>
   106  <td style="width: 55.7271%; height: 21px;"><strong>Description</strong></td>
   107  <td style="width: 31.7889%; height: 21px;"><strong>Namespace</strong></td>
   108  </tr>
   109  <tr style="height: 21px;">
   110  <td style="width: 12.4839%; height: 21px;"><img src="/docs/registry/providers/images/official-tier.png" alt="" /></td>
   111  <td style="width: 55.7271%; height: 21px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Official providers are owned and maintained by HashiCorp </span></i></td>
   112  <td style="width: 31.7889%; height: 21px;"><code><span style="font-weight: 400;">hashicorp</span></code></td>
   113  </tr>
   114  <tr style="height: 21px;">
   115  <td style="width: 12.4839%; height: 21px;"><img src="/docs/registry/providers/images/verified-tier.png" alt="" /></td>
   116  <td style="width: 55.7271%; height: 21px;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Verified providers are owned and maintained by third-party technology partners. Providers in this tier indicate HashiCorp has verified the authenticity of the Provider&rsquo;s publisher, and that the partner is a member of the </span></i><a href="https://www.hashicorp.com/ecosystem/become-a-partner/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">HashiCorp Technology Partner Program</span></i></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></i></td>
   117  <td style="width: 31.7889%; height: 21px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Third-party organization, e.g. </span><code><span style="font-weight: 400;">mongodb/mongodbatlas</span></code></td>
   118  </tr>
   119  <tr style="height: 21px;">
   120  <td style="width: 12.4839%; height: 21px;"><img src="/docs/registry/providers/images/community-tier.png" alt="" /></td>
   121  <td style="width: 55.7271%; height: 21px;">Community providers are published to the Terraform Registry by individual maintainers, groups of maintainers, or other members of the Terraform community.</td>
   122  <td style="width: 31.7889%; height: 21px;"><br />Maintainer&rsquo;s individual or organization account, e.g. <code>DeviaVir/gsuite</code></td>
   123  </tr>
   124  <tr style="height: 21px;">
   125  <td style="width: 12.4839%; height: 21px;"><img src="/docs/registry/providers/images/archived-tier.png" alt="" /></td>
   126  <td style="width: 55.7271%; height: 21px;">Archived Providers are Official or Verified Providers that are no longer maintained by HashiCorp or the community. This may occur if an API is deprecated or interest was low.</td>
   127  <td style="width: 31.7889%; height: 21px;"><code>hashicorp</code> or third-party</td>
   128  </tr>
   129  </tbody>
   130  </table>
   131  
   132  
   133  ## How to Develop Providers
   134  
   135  Providers are written in Go, using the Terraform Plugin SDK. For more
   136  information on developing providers, see:
   137  
   138  - The [Extending Terraform](/docs/extend/index.html) documentation
   139  - The [Call APIs with Terraform Providers](https://learn.hashicorp.com/collections/terraform/providers?utm_source=WEBSITE&utm_medium=WEB_IO&utm_offer=ARTICLE_PAGE&utm_content=DOCS)
   140    collection on HashiCorp Learn