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Getting Started Guide

Quick Start​

Get Terraback running in under 5 minutes with this quick start guide.

Prerequisites Check​

# Ensure you have Terraform installed
terraform --version

# Verify Terraback installation
terraback --version

# Check system requirements
terraback doctor

Your First Backup​

Step 1: Navigate to Your Terraform Project​

cd /path/to/your/terraform/project

# Verify you're in the right directory
ls -la *.tf

Step 2: Initialize Terraback​

# Initialize Terraback in the current directory
terraback init

# You'll see:
✅ Terraback initialized successfully
📁 Project: my-infrastructure
🔧 Terraform version: 1.5.7
💾 State file detected: terraform.tfstate

Step 3: Create Your First Backup​

# Create a manual backup
terraback backup create --name "initial-backup"

# Output:
🔄 Creating backup...
📦 Compressing state files...
🔐 Encrypting backup...
☁️  Uploading to storage...
✅ Backup created successfully
📍 Backup ID: backup_20240115_143022
📏 Size: 2.4 MB
🏷️  Name: initial-backup

Step 4: Verify the Backup​

# List all backups
terraback backup list

# Show backup details
terraback backup show backup_20240115_143022

Basic Workflow​

Daily Operations​

Morning Routine​

# Check backup status
terraback status

# Review any drift detected overnight
terraback drift show

# Ensure automated backups are running
terraback backup schedule status

Before Making Changes​

# Create a checkpoint before terraform apply
terraback checkpoint create --name "before-scaling-change"

# Make your Terraform changes
terraform plan
terraform apply

# Verify backup was created
terraback backup list --limit 1

After Incidents​

# List recent backups
terraback backup list --since "2 hours ago"

# Preview what would be restored
terraback restore preview backup_20240115_143022

# Restore if needed
terraback restore apply backup_20240115_143022

Setting Up Automation​

Enable Automatic Backups​

# Configure automatic backups every hour
terraback backup schedule create \
  --interval 1h \
  --retention 30d \
  --name "hourly-auto"

# Verify schedule
terraback backup schedule list

Configure Drift Detection​

# Enable drift detection
terraback drift enable

# Set check interval (every 15 minutes)
terraback drift config --interval 15m

# Configure alerts
terraback drift alert add --email ops@example.com

Set Up Git Integration​

# Initialize Git integration
terraback git init

# Configure auto-commit of state changes
terraback git config \
  --auto-commit true \
  --branch "terraback-states" \
  --message "Automated state backup by Terraback"

Working with Multiple Environments​

Managing Different Workspaces​

# List Terraform workspaces
terraback workspace list

# Backup specific workspace
terraback backup create --workspace staging

# Set default workspace for operations
terraback config set default.workspace production

Environment-Specific Configuration​

# Create environment profiles
terraback profile create production \
  --storage-bucket prod-terraback \
  --retention 90d \
  --encryption true

terraback profile create staging \
  --storage-bucket staging-terraback \
  --retention 7d \
  --encryption false

# Switch profiles
terraback profile use production

Essential Commands​

Backup Operations​

# Create backup with tags
terraback backup create \
  --name "release-v2.0" \
  --tags "release,production,critical"

# Search backups
terraback backup search --tag "release"

# Delete old backups
terraback backup prune --older-than 30d --dry-run
terraback backup prune --older-than 30d --confirm

Recovery Operations​

# Compare current state with backup
terraback diff backup_20240115_143022

# Restore to specific point in time
terraback restore point-in-time "2024-01-15 14:00:00"

# Selective restore (specific resources only)
terraback restore selective backup_20240115_143022 \
  --resource aws_instance.web_server \
  --resource aws_s3_bucket.assets

Monitoring & Alerts​

# View drift summary
terraback drift summary

# Get detailed drift report
terraback drift report --format json > drift-report.json

# Test alert configuration
terraback alert test

# View alert history
terraback alert history --last 24h

Integration Examples​

CI/CD Pipeline Integration​

GitHub Actions​

# .github/workflows/terraback.yml
name: Terraback Backup

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 */6 * * *'  # Every 6 hours

jobs:
  backup:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Install Terraback
        run: |
          curl -sSL https://terraback.io/install.sh | bash

      - name: Configure Terraback
        env:
          TERRABACK_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.TERRABACK_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          terraback auth login --api-key $TERRABACK_API_KEY

      - name: Create Backup
        run: |
          terraback backup create \
            --name "ci-backup-${{ github.sha }}" \
            --tags "ci,github,automated"

Jenkins Pipeline​

pipeline {
    agent any

    environment {
        TERRABACK_API_KEY = credentials('terraback-api-key')
    }

    stages {
        stage('Backup State') {
            steps {
                sh '''
                    terraback backup create \
                        --name "jenkins-${BUILD_NUMBER}" \
                        --tags "jenkins,ci,build-${BUILD_NUMBER}"
                '''
            }
        }

        stage('Check Drift') {
            steps {
                sh 'terraback drift check --fail-on-drift'
            }
        }
    }

    post {
        always {
            sh 'terraback backup list --limit 5'
        }
    }
}

Terraform Integration​

Terraform Backend Configuration​

# backend.tf
terraform {
  backend "s3" {
    bucket = "terraform-state"
    key    = "infrastructure/terraform.tfstate"
    region = "us-east-1"
  }
}

# terraback.tf
resource "null_resource" "terraback_backup" {
  triggers = {
    always_run = timestamp()
  }

  provisioner "local-exec" {
    command = "terraback backup create --name 'terraform-apply-${timestamp()}'"
  }
}

Monitoring Integration​

Prometheus Metrics​

# Enable metrics endpoint
terraback metrics enable --port 9090

# Metrics available at http://localhost:9090/metrics
# - terraback_backups_total
# - terraback_backup_size_bytes
# - terraback_drift_detected
# - terraback_restore_operations_total

Datadog Integration​

# Configure Datadog integration
terraback integrations add datadog \
  --api-key $DATADOG_API_KEY \
  --site datadoghq.com

# Send custom metrics
terraback config set metrics.provider datadog

Best Practices​

Backup Strategy​

  1. Regular Automated Backups: Every hour for production
  2. Manual Checkpoints: Before any significant changes
  3. Retention Policy: 90 days for production, 30 days for staging
  4. Off-site Storage: Use cloud storage for disaster recovery
  5. Encryption: Always enable for sensitive infrastructure

Security Recommendations​

# Enable all security features
terraback security enable-all

# Configure encryption
terraback config set encryption.enabled true
terraback config set encryption.algorithm AES-256

# Set up access controls
terraback access add-user alice@example.com --role viewer
terraback access add-user bob@example.com --role operator

# Enable audit logging
terraback audit enable --output /var/log/terraback/

Performance Optimization​

# Configure parallel operations
terraback config set performance.parallel_uploads 5

# Enable compression
terraback config set backup.compression gzip
terraback config set backup.compression_level 9

# Optimize for large state files
terraback config set performance.chunk_size 10MB
terraback config set performance.multipart_threshold 100MB

Common Scenarios​

Scenario 1: Accidental Deletion Recovery​

# Oh no! Someone deleted production resources
# Don't panic, here's how to recover:

# 1. Find the last good backup
terraback backup list --tags production --limit 10

# 2. Preview what will be restored
terraback restore preview backup_20240115_120000

# 3. Restore the state
terraback restore apply backup_20240115_120000 --confirm

# 4. Re-apply Terraform to sync resources
terraform apply

Scenario 2: Rolling Back a Failed Deployment​

# Deployment went wrong, need to rollback

# 1. Find the pre-deployment backup
terraback checkpoint list --today

# 2. Restore to checkpoint
terraback restore apply checkpoint_before_deployment

# 3. Verify state is correct
terraform plan  # Should show no changes if rolled back correctly

Scenario 3: Investigating Drift​

# Detected unexpected changes in production

# 1. Get drift report
terraback drift report --detailed

# 2. Compare with known good state
terraback diff backup_last_known_good

# 3. Generate remediation plan
terraback drift fix --dry-run

# 4. Apply fixes if approved
terraback drift fix --apply

Next Steps​

Now that you're familiar with basic operations:

  1. Review CLI Commands Reference for all available commands
  2. Set up Advanced Configuration
  3. Learn Best Practices
  4. Join the Beta Program for early access to new features

Getting Help​

Resources​

  • Documentation: Full command reference and guides
  • Community Slack: Get help from other users
  • Support Email: support@terraback.io
  • GitHub Issues: Report bugs and request features

Quick Diagnostics​

# Run full diagnostics
terraback doctor --verbose

# Generate support bundle
terraback support bundle --output support.zip

# Check service status
terraback service status