Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Terraform, AWS CLI, and Your AWS Environment

INTRODUCTION Building a production-grade infrastructure starts with a rock-solid environment. Below is the exact walkthrough of how I configured my system, the commands I used, and the logic behind my decisions. Preparing the AWS "House" The first step is ensuring Terraform has the right permissions to act on your behalf. As noted in the sources, you should never use your root account for daily operations. IAM User Creation: I navigated to the IAM Console and created a new user with Programmatic Access. Permissions: I attached the AdministratorAccess Managed Policy While broad, this is recommended for learning environments to ensure Terraform isn't blocked when trying to create complex networking resources like VPCs or NAT Gateways. Security: I immediately saved my Access Key ID and Secret Access Key Once you leave that screen, AWS will never show the secret key again. Installing the Tooling Terraform Installation: Since I am working on a MacBook Air (Darwin arm64), I used Homebrew to