Terraform Cookbook

Chapter 7. Consuming and Managing Secrets with Terraform

In the world of infrastructure as code, managing secrets is critical to maintaining the security and integrity of your systems. Secrets, such as API keys, database passwords, and other sensitive information, require careful handling to prevent unauthorized access and potential breaches. Terraform provides various mechanisms for securely consuming and managing secrets within your infrastructure deployments.

One key challenge with secrets management is striking the right balance between security and accessibility. Terraform offers a range of options to address this challenge, including using encrypted backends, external secret management systems, and secure input variables. By leveraging these approaches, you can ensure that secrets are properly encrypted, stored securely, and accessed only by authorized entities.

This chapter explores the best practices and techniques for handling secrets in Terraform. We’ll cover different approaches to securely storing, consuming, and managing secrets, ensuring your infrastructure remains protected and compliant with security standards.

As we progress through the chapter, we’ll also explore best practices for managing secrets in collaborative environments, such as using version control systems and implementing proper access controls. We’ll discuss strategies for rotating and updating secrets, ensuring your infrastructure remains secure over time.

By the end of this chapter, you’ll have ...