digger VS terragrunt

Currently, Github Actions is de-facto the only fully supported CI platform in Digger, we’ve been building it as a CI-agnostic tool (https://github.com/diggerhq/digger) from get go. We keep getting requests to support more CI systems on our community slack and over Github issues (https://github.com/diggerhq/digger/issues/81).

Unlike other automation tools for Terraform, Digger doesn’t run jobs on the server; instead it uses your CI (like Actions) as a compute backend. This is more secure and also much cheaper if you use your own runners in your CI.

But each CI and each VCS is ever so slightly different; and we are now at a crossroads - Should we build support for more CI platforms, or more features for GitHub Actions? We’d love any thoughts/inputs!

We just had a user submit an issue and a PR to revert the changes we made earlier that remove the option to disable telemetry. We feel like it’s a fair ask to share usage data with authors of an open-source tool that’s early in the making; but the user’s viewpoint is also perfectly understandable. Are we in the wrong here?

https://github.com/diggerhq/digger/issues/1179

Surely we aren’t the first open-source company to face this dilemma. We don’t want to alienate the community; but losing visibility of usage doesn’t sound great either. Give people the “more privacy” button and most are going to press it. Is there a happy medium?

Detecting and managing drift in Terraform is a multifaceted process. The use of Terraform commands such as terraform refresh and terraform plan plays a critical role in identifying drifts. Additionally, periodic monitoring of the infrastructure using these commands can aid in early detection and prevention of larger issues. Tools like Digger and Terraform Cloud offer dedicated drift detection and remediation mechanisms. These tools provide continuous monitoring and notifications, enabling teams to stay informed about the state of their infrastructure.

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Digger is an Open Source Infrastructure as Code management tool that helps orchestrate IaC such as Terraform & OpenTofu within GitHub Actions. Digger reuses compute used for application code so that you don't overpay for 3rd party managed compute for IaC. This approach eliminates the duplication of CI/CD infrastructure such as compute, jobs, and logs, and reduces security concerns by keeping sensitive data within the CI job. Digger's integration with existing CI systems offers scalability by leveraging on-demand compute resources and enhances security by confining data within the existing CI environment.

Digger is an Open Source IaC management platform that allows you to orchestrate terraform/OpenTofu in your CI/CD system. It helps you resue async jobs infrastructure with compute, orchestration, logs, etc of your existing CI. Digger also has a pro version built on top of Digger’s community edition. Digger’s “bring your own compute” ensures that users have private runners by defualt and don’t have to pay for it additionally. Digger pro gives team leads, managers and IaC practitioners dashboards, Drift Detection, RBAC via OPA policies and concurrency so they can help guide the team.

We have this issue filed by a user and cannot quite decide internally what to do about it. It is clear that allowing everyone who comments to trigger apply is problematic. And we have this covered by the RBAC via OPA feature that allows users to set granular rego policies for who can do what. But it can also be viewed as an overkill to introduce the whole policy-as-code setup for a basic restriction like this.

name: Configure on: push: branches: - main pull_request: branches: - main workflow_dispatch: inputs: destroy: description: 'Run Terragrunt destroy command' required: true default: 'false' type: choice options: - true - false jobs: apply: if: ${{ !inputs.destroy || inputs.destroy == 'false' }} runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - name: Checkout repository uses: actions/checkout@v2 - name: Setup SSH uses: webfactory/[email protected] with: ssh-private-key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }} - name: Setup Terraform uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v2 with: terraform_version: 1.5.5 terraform_wrapper: false - name: Setup Terragrunt run: | curl -LO "https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/download/v0.48.1/terragrunt_linux_amd64" chmod +x terragrunt_linux_amd64 sudo mv terragrunt_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/terragrunt terragrunt -v - name: Apply Terraform changes run: | cd dev terragrunt run-all apply -auto-approve --terragrunt-non-interactive -var AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID -var AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY -var AWS_REGION=$AWS_DEFAULT_REGION env: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ vars.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }} AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }} AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: ${{ vars.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION }} destroy: if: ${{ inputs.destroy == 'true' }} runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - name: Checkout repository uses: actions/checkout@v2 - name: Setup SSH uses: webfactory/[email protected] with: ssh-private-key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }} - name: Setup Terraform uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v2 with: terraform_version: 1.5.5 terraform_wrapper: false - name: Setup Terragrunt run: | curl -LO "https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/download/v0.48.1/terragrunt_linux_amd64" chmod +x terragrunt_linux_amd64 sudo mv terragrunt_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/terragrunt terragrunt -v - name: Destroy Terraform changes run: | cd dev terragrunt run-all destroy -auto-approve --terragrunt-non-interactive -var AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID -var AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY -var AWS_REGION=$AWS_DEFAULT_REGION env: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ vars.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }} AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }} AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: ${{ vars.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION }}

‍Terragrunt is a thin wrapper that provides extra tools for keeping your Terraform configurations DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), working with multiple Terraform modules, and managing remote state. It's particularly useful in managing large-scale infrastructure deployments with Terraform.

... #************************** Terraform ************************************* ARG TERRAFORM_VERSION=1.7.3 RUN set -ex \ && curl -O https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/${TERRAFORM_VERSION}/terraform_${TERRAFORM_VERSION}_linux_amd64.zip && unzip terraform_${TERRAFORM_VERSION}_linux_amd64.zip -d /usr/local/bin/ RUN set -ex \ && mkdir -p $HOME/.terraform.d/plugin-cache && echo 'plugin_cache_dir = "$HOME/.terraform.d/plugin-cache"' > ~/.terraformrc #************************* Terragrunt ************************************* ARG TERRAGRUNT_VERSION=0.55.1 RUN set -ex \ && wget https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/download/v${TERRAGRUNT_VERSION}/terragrunt_linux_amd64 -q \ && mv terragrunt_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/terragrunt \ && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/terragrunt #*********************** Terramate **************************************** ARG TERRAMATE_VERSION=0.4.5 RUN set -ex \ && wget https://github.com/mineiros-io/terramate/releases/download/v${TERRAMATE_VERSION}/terramate_${TERRAMATE_VERSION}_linux_x86_64.tar.gz \ && tar -xzf terramate_${TERRAMATE_VERSION}_linux_x86_64.tar.gz \ && mv terramate /usr/local/bin/terramate \ && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/terramate #*********************** tfsec ******************************************** ARG TFSEC_VERSION=1.28.5 RUN set -ex \ && wget https://github.com/aquasecurity/tfsec/releases/download/v${TFSEC_VERSION}/tfsec-linux-amd64 \ && mv tfsec-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/tfsec \ && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/tfsec \ && terragrunt --version #**********************Terraform docs ************************************ ARG TERRRAFORM_DOCS_VERSION=0.17.0 RUN set -ex \ && curl -sSLo ./terraform-docs.tar.gz https://terraform-docs.io/dl/v${TERRRAFORM_DOCS_VERSION}/terraform-docs-v${TERRRAFORM_DOCS_VERSION}-$(uname)-amd64.tar.gz \ && tar -xzf terraform-docs.tar.gz \ && chmod +x terraform-docs \ && mv terraform-docs /usr/local/bin/terraform-docs #********************* ShellCheck ***************************************** ARG SHELLCHECK_VERSION="stable" RUN set -ex \ && wget -qO- "https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/releases/download/${SHELLCHECK_VERSION?}/shellcheck-${SHELLCHECK_VERSION?}.linux.x86_64.tar.xz" | tar -xJv \ && cp "shellcheck-${SHELLCHECK_VERSION}/shellcheck" /usr/bin/ \ && shellcheck --version ...

Our first attempt was to introduce other engineering teams to Terraform - the Platform team was already using it extensively with Terragrunt, and using Atlantis to automate plan and apply operations in a Git flow to ensure infrastructure was consistent. We'd written modules, with documentation, and an engineer would simply need to raise a PR to use the module and provide the right values, and Atlantis (once the PR was approved by Platform) would go ahead and set it up for them.

Terragrunt: An extension of Terraform, Terragrunt assists in managing complex infrastructure with less duplication and more efficiency. Its power lies in its ability to manage dependencies and its dry configuration approach.

Copy the link and download on your terminal using the wget command. Example: wget https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/download/v0.54.19/terragrunt_linux_amd64

name: Configure on: push: branches: - main pull_request: branches: - main jobs: terraform: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - name: Checkout repository uses: actions/checkout@v2 - name: Setup SSH uses: webfactory/[email protected] with: ssh-private-key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }} - name: Setup Terraform uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v2 with: terraform_version: 1.5.5 terraform_wrapper: false - name: Setup Terragrunt run: | curl -LO "https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases/download/v0.48.1/terragrunt_linux_amd64" chmod +x terragrunt_linux_amd64 sudo mv terragrunt_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/terragrunt terragrunt -v - name: Apply Terraform changes run: | cd dev terragrunt run-all apply -auto-approve --terragrunt-non-interactive -var AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID -var AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY -var AWS_REGION=$AWS_DEFAULT_REGION cd apache-server/ec2-web-server public_ip=$(terragrunt output instance_public_ip) echo "$public_ip" > public_ip.txt cat public_ip.txt env: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }} AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }} AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: ${{ secrets.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION }} - name: Upload artifact uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4 with: name: ip-artifact path: dev/apache-server/ec2-web-server/public_ip.txt ansible: runs-on: ubuntu-latest needs: terraform steps: - name: Download artifact uses: actions/download-artifact@v4 with: name: ip-artifact - name: Configure Ansible run: | sudo apt update sudo pipx inject ansible-core jmespath ansible-playbook --version sudo echo "[web]" >> ansible_hosts sudo cat public_ip.txt >> ansible_hosts mv ansible_hosts $HOME sudo cat $HOME/ansible_hosts - name: Configure playbook run: | cd $HOME cat > deploy.yml < Test Page This is a test page EOF cat $HOME/deploy.yml - name: Run playbook uses: dawidd6/action-ansible-playbook@v2 with: playbook: deploy.yml directory: /home/runner key: ${{secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY}} options: | --inventory ansible_hosts --verbose

Created and maintained by Gruntwork, Terragrunt is a tool designed to enhance Terraform’s capabilities. It acts as a thin wrapper around Terraform, offering additional features to streamline and optimise Terraform usage. Key functions of Terragrunt include helping users keep their Terraform configurations DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself), efficiently managing multiple Terraform modules, and handling remote state management. By reducing repetition in Terraform code and simplifying the management of complex module dependencies and remote state, Terragrunt makes working with Terraform more efficient, especially for larger or more complex infrastructure deployments.

locals { # Automatically load region-level variables region_vars = read_terragrunt_config(find_in_parent_folders("region.hcl")) # Automatically load environment-level variables` environment_vars = read_terragrunt_config(find_in_parent_folders("env.hcl")) # Extract the variables we need for easy access account_name = local.environment_vars.locals.account_name account_id = local.environment_vars.locals.aws_account_id aws_region = local.region_vars.locals.aws_region # This is the S3 bucket where the Terraform State Files will be stored remote_state_bucket = "devops-bucket" # This is the DynamoDB table where Terraform will add the locking status dynamodb_table = "terraform-state-lock" # IAM Role for Terraform backend to assume terraform_backend_role = "arn:aws:iam::{shared-services_account_id}:role/terraform-backend-role" environment_path = replace(path_relative_to_include(), "environments/", "") # https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/releases terraform_version = "latest" # https://github.com/gruntwork-io/terragrunt/releases terragrunt_version = "latest" } # Generate an AWS provider block generate "provider" { path = "provider.tf" if_exists = "overwrite_terragrunt" contents = <

If your team works with Terraform, you should definitely try Terragrunt (and obviously, its CLI tool!). It's an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool that acts as a wrapper for Terraform and simplifies dealing with multiple Terraform modules in different environments.