Terraform-Toolbox VSCode Extension

VSCode extension adding a bunch of featurees regarding Terraform and Spacelift.

• Terraform-Toolbox VSCode Extension
  • Motivation
  • Getting startet
    • Terraform version manager
    • Spacelift
  • Supported platforms
  • Features
    • Terraform version manager
    • Terraform workspace
    • Terraform Init
    • Spacelift
  • Important Notes

Motivation

The main motivation behind building this extension was to improve the terraform workflow at my employer, CMInformatik. The extension therefore contains some features that are specific to our workflow. However, I think that some of the features might be useful for other people as well. If you have any suggestions or ideas for improvements, feel free to open an issue or a pull request.

Getting startet

The following features require manual configuration and installation steps:

Terraform version manager

The following requirements must be met for the terraform version manager to work:

• The active terraform version is stored in the following folder:
  • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.terraform-toolbox\active
  • Mac: $HOME/.terraform-toolbox/active

This folder must be added to your path. Also, make sure that you have no other terraform binaries in your path.

Spacelift

To use any spacelift feature of this extension, spacectl has to be installed and available in your Path. You also have to set a userprofile in spacectl with the command:

spacectl profile login <profile_name>

Regarding spacelift, no authentication is required in VSCode. The extension uses the spacectl profile export-token command to get an api token for the current userprofile. This token is then used to authenticate the extension with spacelift.

If you don't want to use any spacelift features, you can simply not install the spacectl, this will disable all spacelift features of the extension.

Supported platforms

The extension supports all three major OS platforms:

• Windows (x64/x86/arm64)
• MacOS (x64/arm64)
• Linux (x64/x86/arm64) (not tested)

MacOS and Windows are regularly used and tested. Linux is not tested, but should work.

Features

Terraform version manager

This extension adds a terraform version manager, that allows you to install and switch between any terraform version available on the hashicorp/terraform Github releases page (including betas, alphas and rc). The extension downloads the selected version from https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform. The active binary is stored in the following folder: %USERPROFILE%\.terraform-toolbox/active (Windows) or $HOME/.terraform-toolbox/active (Mac). Not active but installed versions are stored in $HOME/.terraform-toolbox/terraform (Mac) or %USERPROFILE%\.terraform-toolbox\terraform (Windows).

• Command [tftoolbox.setTerraformVersion]: Select and install a specific terraform version.
• Command [tftoolbox.autoSetTerraformVersion]: Evaluates the required terraform version for all of your open projects and selects the latest version that matches all the requirements. With the setting tftoolbox.terraform.autoSelectVersion you can enable to auto-select a terraform version when opening VSCode. More information can be found here: Auto set terraform version
• Command [tftoolbox.deleteTerraformVersions]: Select and delete installed terraform versions.
• StatusBarItem [ActiveTerraformVersion]: Shows the currently selected terraform version in the status bar if a terraform file is open. Clicking on the status bar item opens the version manager.

Terraform workspace

Tired of switching between terraform workspaces in the terminal? This extension adds a status bar item showing the currently active terraform workspace. By clicking on the status bar item, you can select and switch to a different workspace. The extension adds the following features regarding terraform workspaces:

• Command [tftoolbox.setWorkspace]: Select and switch to a terraform workspace in the current folder.
• Command [tftoolbox.terraform.autoSelectWorkspace] Auto set the terraform workspace for all folders when opening vscode. Uses the workspace name from the .terraform-toolbox.json file in the root of the workspace. More information can be found here: Workspace settings
• StatusBarItem [ActiveTerraformWorkspace]: Shows the currently selected terraform workspace in the status bar if a terraform file is open. Clicking on the status bar item opens the workspace manager.

Terraform Init

Since terraform init is required for many features of the official Hashicorp Terraform extension to work, this extension adds some features to make the terraform init process easier:

• Command [tftoolbox.initCurrentProject]: Run terraform init in the current folder. Similar to the init Command of the official Hashicorp Terraform extension, but it allows you to specify additional terraform init arguments with the setting tftoolbox.terraform.initArg.
• Command [tftoolbox.initAllProjects]: Finds all terraform folders in your open workspaces and runs terraform init in each of them asynchronically. With the setting tftoolbox.terraform.autoInitAllProjects you can enable to auto init all folders when opening VSCode. More information can be found here: Terraform init all projects
• Command [tftoolbox.initRefreshModules]: Installs missing modules for the current folder.

Spacelift

Spacelift is a Terraform CI/CD tool. They provide a cli-tool, called spacectl, that allows you to run proposed runs of your local terraform code on Spacelift. However, the cli requires you to specify the Spacelift stack-id and the working directory of the terraform-project, for which the proposed run should be created. To make this process easier, this extension adds two commands as wrapper around the spacectl:

• Command [tftoolbox.spaceliftLocalPreviewCurrentStack]: Run a local preview for the current folder. The stack-id is automatically evaluated based on the current Repository and Subfolder.
• Command [tftoolbox.spaceliftLocalPreview]: Run a local preview of a selected stack on Spacelift. You will be presented with a list of all stacks for the current workspace. The selected stack will be used to run the local preview.
• StatusBarItem [StacksPendingConfirmationCount]: Shows the number of stacks that have pending confirmation in the status bar. Clicking on the status bar item opens your Spacelift portal.

Important Notes

This extension is still in early development. We are using it at CMInformatik for our daily work, but there might still be some bugs. If you find any bugs or have any suggestions for improvements, feel free to open an issue or a pull request.