Variable Defaults

Project example#

Consider the following project:

We have extended the first example and added a second variable "bucket_suffix" which has its default set to "-abcd". Setting a default on a variable means that if you do not provide a value for that variable, then the default will be used. We then use the value of the bucket_name variable concatenated with the value of the bucket_suffix variable for the value of the bucket name. As we use the values inside a string, we need to surround our variables with ＄{ and }. Otherwise, Terraform will not use the value of the variable and instead will just print the string var.bucket_name.

Running the project#

Clicking the terminal will run the terraform init command.

After running the project:

• Terraform will ask you to provide a value for bucket_name as before.

• Enter a name for the bucket and press enter.

  Notice that Terraform will now ask you to confirm the run by typing yes. Confirm the run and press enter.

• Terraform will then create the bucket.

  You may be wondering why Terraform never asked you for a value for bucket_suffix. This is because Terraform does not need a value for bucket_suffix since you already gave it a default value of -abcd.

• The end result is that a bucket will be created with whatever name you enter for the bucket name with -abcd on the end of it.

📝Note: Once you are done with the project, do not forget to run terraform destroy and then confirm with yes to delete all of the resources in this project.