github.com/pulumi/terraform@v1.4.0/website/docs/cli/plugins/index.mdx (about)

     1  ---
     2  page_title: Managing Plugins - Terraform CLI
     3  description: >-
     4    Commands to install, configure, and show information about providers. Also
     5    commands to reduce install effort in air-gapped environments.
     6  ---
     7  
     8  # Managing Plugins
     9  
    10  Terraform relies on plugins called "providers" in order to manage various types
    11  of resources. (For more information about providers, see
    12  [Providers](/language/providers) in the Terraform
    13  language docs.)
    14  
    15  -> **Note:** Providers are the only plugin type most Terraform users interact with. Terraform also supports third-party provisioner plugins, but
    16  we discourage their use.
    17  
    18  Terraform downloads and/or installs any providers
    19  [required](/language/providers/requirements) by a configuration
    20  when [initializing](/cli/init) a working directory. By default,
    21  this works without any additional interaction but requires network access to
    22  download providers from their source registry.
    23  
    24  You can configure Terraform's provider installation behavior to limit or skip
    25  network access, and to enable use of providers that aren't available via a
    26  networked source. Terraform also includes some commands to show information
    27  about providers and to reduce the effort of installing providers in airgapped
    28  environments.
    29  
    30  ## Configuring Plugin Installation
    31  
    32  Terraform's configuration file includes options for caching downloaded plugins,
    33  or explicitly specifying a local or HTTPS mirror to install plugins from. For
    34  more information, see [CLI Config File](/cli/config/config-file).
    35  
    36  ## Getting Plugin Information
    37  
    38  Use the [`terraform providers`](/cli/commands/providers) command to get information
    39  about the providers required by the current working directory's configuration.
    40  
    41  Use the [`terraform version`](/cli/commands/version) command (or
    42  `terraform -version`) to show the specific provider versions installed for the
    43  current working directory.
    44  
    45  Use the [`terraform providers schema`](/cli/commands/providers/schema) command to
    46  get machine-readable information about the resources and configuration options
    47  offered by each provider.
    48  
    49  ## Managing Plugin Installation
    50  
    51  Use the [`terraform providers mirror`](/cli/commands/providers/mirror) command to
    52  download local copies of every provider required by the current working
    53  directory's configuration. This directory will use the nested directory layout
    54  that Terraform expects when installing plugins from a local source, so you can
    55  transfer it directly to an airgapped system that runs Terraform.
    56  
    57  Use the [`terraform providers lock`](/cli/commands/providers/lock) command
    58  to update the lock file that Terraform uses to ensure predictable runs when
    59  using ambiguous provider version constraints.