github.com/nathanielks/terraform@v0.6.1-0.20170509030759-13e1a62319dc/website/source/intro/getting-started/install.html.markdown (about)

     1  ---
     2  layout: "intro"
     3  page_title: "Installing Terraform"
     4  sidebar_current: "gettingstarted-install"
     5  description: |-
     6    Terraform must first be installed on your machine. Terraform is distributed as
     7    a binary package for all supported platforms and architecture. This page will
     8    not cover how to compile Terraform from source.
     9  ---
    10  
    11  # Install Terraform
    12  
    13  Terraform must first be installed on your machine. Terraform is distributed as a
    14  [binary package](/downloads.html) for all supported platforms and architectures.
    15  This page will not cover how to compile Terraform from source, but compiling
    16  from source is covered in the [documentation](/docs/index.html) for those who
    17  want to be sure they're compiling source they trust into the final binary.
    18  
    19  ## Installing Terraform
    20  
    21  To install Terraform, find the [appropriate package](/downloads.html) for your
    22  system and download it. Terraform is packaged as a zip archive.
    23  
    24  After downloading Terraform, unzip the package. Terraform runs as a single
    25  binary named `terraform`. Any other files in the package can be safely removed
    26  and Terraform will still function.
    27  
    28  The final step is to make sure that the `terraform` binary is available on the `PATH`.
    29  See [this page](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14637979/how-to-permanently-set-path-on-linux)
    30  for instructions on setting the PATH on Linux and Mac.
    31  [This page](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1618280/where-can-i-set-path-to-make-exe-on-windows)
    32  contains instructions for setting the PATH on Windows.
    33  
    34  ## Verifying the Installation
    35  
    36  After installing Terraform, verify the installation worked by opening a new
    37  terminal session and checking that `terraform` is available. By executing
    38  `terraform` you should see help output similar to this:
    39  
    40  ```text
    41  $ terraform
    42  Usage: terraform [--version] [--help] <command> [args]
    43  
    44  The available commands for execution are listed below.
    45  The most common, useful commands are shown first, followed by
    46  less common or more advanced commands. If you're just getting
    47  started with Terraform, stick with the common commands. For the
    48  other commands, please read the help and docs before usage.
    49  
    50  Common commands:
    51      apply              Builds or changes infrastructure
    52      console            Interactive console for Terraform interpolations
    53  # ...
    54  ```
    55  
    56  If you get an error that `terraform` could not be found, your `PATH` environment
    57  variable was not set up properly. Please go back and ensure that your `PATH`
    58  variable contains the directory where Terraform was installed.
    59  
    60  ## Next Steps
    61  
    62  Time to [build infrastructure](/intro/getting-started/build.html) using a
    63  minimal Terraform configuration file. You will be able to examine Terraform's
    64  execution plan before you deploy it to AWS.