Terraform Graphs Explained

Author

Govardhana M K
January 27, 2025

In partnership with

TechOps Examples

Hey — It's Govardhana MK 👋

Along with a use case deep dive, we identify the remote job opportunities, top news, tools, and articles in the TechOps industry.

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IN TODAY'S EDITION

🧠 Use Case

  • Terraform Graphs Explained

🚀 Top News

👀 Remote Jobs

📚️ Resources

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🧠 USE CASE

Terraform Graphs Explained

Why you should need Terraform graphs in the first place...

Let’s be honest - Terraform configurations can get pretty complex as your infrastructure grows.

You’ve got VPCs, subnets, instances, load balancers, route tables... and suddenly, you're swimming in a sea of dependencies.

This is where Terraform graphs become your lifesaver.

Here’s why:

You need to see your infrastructure. Sure, the HCL code is great, but a visual map of all the resources and their relationships? That’s a whole new level of clarity.

You need to debug dependency issues. Ever had Terraform complain about "circular dependencies" or resources being created in the wrong order? A graph shows you exactly where the problem lies.

You need to plan with confidence. Before making changes, wouldn’t it be nice to know how they might ripple through your setup? The graph helps you anticipate that.

You need to explain things to your team. Not everyone on your team loves reading HCL or JSON files (shocking, right?). A graph can help communicate ideas and designs effortlessly.

You need to make your documentation awesome. Imagine handing your stakeholders a crisp visual of your infrastructure instead of just a text file. Instant brownie points.

So yeah, Terraform graphs might be underrated, but trust me - they’re the tool you didn’t know you needed until you used them.

Terraform Graph Command Breakdown

The terraform graph command generates a dependency graph from your Terraform configuration, represented in the DOT format. 

terraform graph [options]

Generates a basic graph of the current configuration.

Graph Type (-type): Specifies the type of graph to generate:

  • plan: Visualizes the plan based on the current configuration.

  • plan-refresh-only: Creates a graph based on a refresh-only plan.

  • plan-destroy: Focuses on resources being destroyed.

  • apply: Graphs a saved execution plan.

  • -draw-cycles: Highlights circular dependencies in the graph with colored edges.

Save output to a file for rendering later

terraform graph > graph.dot

Render DOT files using Graphviz

dot -Tpng graph.dot -o graph.png

For someone new to Graphviz, it’s an open-source tool that turns those DOT files into clean and professional diagrams with just a few commands.

You can check it out at Graphviz Official Site.

Understanding This Terraform Graph

  • Nodes: Each box represents a resource in your Terraform configuration.

  • Arrows: Dependencies flow from one resource to another, showing creation order.

  • Groupings: Resources like subnets and instances are tied to higher-level components like VPCs.

  • Linear Flow: Start at the top (root resource) and follow arrows to see relationships.

  • Cross Links: Some resources depend on multiple inputs, highlighted by converging arrows.

  • Route Table Example: Notice how associations link subnets to the main route table.

Graphs are your quick lens to spot dependencies and potential bottlenecks at a glance!

Hope you found this useful.

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