github.com/muratcelep/terraform@v1.1.0-beta2-not-internal-4/website/docs/language/settings/index.html.md (about) 1 --- 2 layout: "language" 3 page_title: "Terraform Settings - Configuration Language" 4 sidebar_current: "docs-config-terraform" 5 description: "The terraform block allows you to configure Terraform behavior, including the Terraform version, backend, and required providers." 6 --- 7 8 # Terraform Settings 9 10 The special `terraform` configuration block type is used to configure some 11 behaviors of Terraform itself, such as requiring a minimum Terraform version to 12 apply your configuration. 13 14 ## Terraform Block Syntax 15 16 Terraform settings are gathered together into `terraform` blocks: 17 18 ```hcl 19 terraform { 20 # ... 21 } 22 ``` 23 24 Each `terraform` block can contain a number of settings related to Terraform's 25 behavior. Within a `terraform` block, only constant values can be used; 26 arguments may not refer to named objects such as resources, input variables, 27 etc, and may not use any of the Terraform language built-in functions. 28 29 The various options supported within a `terraform` block are described in the 30 following sections. 31 32 ## Configuring a Terraform Backend 33 34 The nested `backend` block configures which backend Terraform should use. 35 36 The syntax and behavior of the `backend` block is described in [Backend 37 Configuration](/docs/language/settings/backends/configuration.html). 38 39 ## Specifying a Required Terraform Version 40 41 > **Hands-on:** Try the [Manage Terraform Versions](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/terraform/versions?in=terraform/configuration-language) or [Manage Terraform Versions in Terraform Cloud](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/terraform/cloud-versions?in=terraform/cloud) tutorials on HashiCorp Learn. 42 43 The `required_version` setting accepts a [version constraint 44 string,](/docs/language/expressions/version-constraints.html) which specifies which versions of Terraform 45 can be used with your configuration. 46 47 If the running version of Terraform doesn't match the constraints specified, 48 Terraform will produce an error and exit without taking any further actions. 49 50 When you use [child modules](/docs/language/modules/index.html), each module can specify its own 51 version requirements. The requirements of all modules in the tree must be 52 satisfied. 53 54 Use Terraform version constraints in a collaborative environment to 55 ensure that everyone is using a specific Terraform version, or using at least 56 a minimum Terraform version that has behavior expected by the configuration. 57 58 The `required_version` setting applies only to the version of Terraform CLI. 59 Terraform's resource types are implemented by provider plugins, 60 whose release cycles are independent of Terraform CLI and of each other. 61 Use [the `required_providers` block](/docs/language/providers/requirements.html) to manage 62 the expected versions for each provider you use. 63 64 ## Specifying Provider Requirements 65 66 [inpage-source]: #specifying-provider-requirements 67 68 The `required_providers` block specifies all of the providers required by the 69 current module, mapping each local provider name to a source address and a 70 version constraint. 71 72 ```hcl 73 terraform { 74 required_providers { 75 aws = { 76 version = ">= 2.7.0" 77 source = "hashicorp/aws" 78 } 79 } 80 } 81 ``` 82 83 For more information, see [Provider Requirements](/docs/language/providers/requirements.html). 84 85 ## Experimental Language Features 86 87 The Terraform team will sometimes introduce new language features initially via 88 an opt-in experiment, so that the community can try the new feature and give 89 feedback on it prior to it becoming a backward-compatibility constraint. 90 91 In releases where experimental features are available, you can enable them on 92 a per-module basis by setting the `experiments` argument inside a `terraform` 93 block: 94 95 ```hcl 96 terraform { 97 experiments = [example] 98 } 99 ``` 100 101 The above would opt in to an experiment named `example`, assuming such an 102 experiment were available in the current Terraform version. 103 104 Experiments are subject to arbitrary changes in later releases and, depending on 105 the outcome of the experiment, may change drastically before final release or 106 may not be released in stable form at all. Such breaking changes may appear 107 even in minor and patch releases. We do not recommend using experimental 108 features in Terraform modules intended for production use. 109 110 In order to make that explicit and to avoid module callers inadvertently 111 depending on an experimental feature, any module with experiments enabled will 112 generate a warning on every `terraform plan` or `terraform apply`. If you 113 want to try experimental features in a shared module, we recommend enabling the 114 experiment only in alpha or beta releases of the module. 115 116 The introduction and completion of experiments is reported in 117 [Terraform's changelog](https://github.com/muratcelep/terraform/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md), 118 so you can watch the release notes there to discover which experiment keywords, 119 if any, are available in a particular Terraform release. 120 121 ## Passing Metadata to Providers 122 123 The `terraform` block can have a nested `provider_meta` block for each 124 provider a module is using, if the provider defines a schema for it. This 125 allows the provider to receive module-specific information, and is primarily 126 intended for modules distributed by the same vendor as the associated provider. 127 128 For more information, see [Provider Metadata](/docs/internals/provider-meta.html).