---
title: 1 –  Initialize Terraform
description: This tutorial shows you how to get started with Terraform. You will create a DNS record pointing www.example.com to a web server at 203.0.113.10.
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/core-services-preview.png
---

> Documentation Index  
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.cloudflare.com/terraform/llms.txt  
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

[Skip to content](#%5Ftop) 

# 1 – Initialize Terraform

This tutorial shows you how to get started with Terraform. You just signed up your domain (`example.com`) on Cloudflare to manage everything in Terraform and now you will create a DNS record pointing `www.example.com` to a web server at `203.0.113.10`.

Before you begin, ensure you have:

* [Installed Terraform](https://developers.cloudflare.com/terraform/installing/)
* [Created an API Token](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/get-started/create-token/) with permissions to edit resources for this tutorial

Note

Terraform code snippets below refer to the v5 SDK only.

## 1\. Create your configuration

Create a file named `main.tf`, filling in your own values for the [API token](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/get-started/create-token/), [zone ID](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/account/find-account-and-zone-ids/), [account ID](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/account/find-account-and-zone-ids/), and [domain](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/manage-domains/add-site/):

Terminal window

```

terraform {

  required_providers {

    cloudflare = {

      source  = "cloudflare/cloudflare"

      version = "~> 5"

    }

  }

}


provider "cloudflare" {

  api_token = "<YOUR_API_TOKEN>"

}


variable "zone_id" {

  default = "<YOUR_ZONE_ID>"

}


variable "account_id" {

  default = "<YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID>"

}


variable "domain" {

  default = "<YOUR_DOMAIN>"

}


resource "cloudflare_dns_record" "www" {

  zone_id = "<YOUR_ZONE_ID>"

  name    = "www"

  content = "203.0.113.10"

  type    = "A"

  ttl     = 1

  proxied = true

  comment = "Domain verification record"

}


```

Warning

To prevent accidentally exposing your Cloudflare credentials, do not save this file in your version control system. The [next tutorial](https://developers.cloudflare.com/terraform/tutorial/track-history/) will cover best practices for passing in your API token.

## 2\. Initialize and plan

Initialize Terraform to download the Cloudflare provider:

Terminal window

```

terraform init


```

Review what will be created:

Terminal window

```

terraform plan


```

```

Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan. Resource actions are

indicated with the following symbols:

  + create


Terraform will perform the following actions:


  # cloudflare_dns_record.www will be created

  + resource "cloudflare_dns_record" "www" {

      + comment             = "Domain verification record"

      + comment_modified_on = (known after apply)

      + content             = "203.0.113.10"

      + created_on          = (known after apply)

      + id                  = (known after apply)

      + meta                = (known after apply)

      + modified_on         = (known after apply)

      + name                = "www"

      + proxiable           = (known after apply)

      + proxied             = true

      + settings            = (known after apply)

      + tags                = (known after apply)

      + tags_modified_on    = (known after apply)

      + ttl                 = 1

      + type                = "A"

      + zone_id             = "<YOUR_ZONE_ID>"

    }


Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.


```

## 3\. Apply and verify

Apply your configuration:

Terminal window

```

terraform apply


```

Type `yes` when prompted.

```

Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution plan. Resource actions are

indicated with the following symbols:

  + create


Terraform will perform the following actions:


  # cloudflare_dns_record.www will be created

  + resource "cloudflare_dns_record" "www" {

      + comment             = "Domain verification record"

      + comment_modified_on = (known after apply)

      + content             = "203.0.113.10"

      + created_on          = (known after apply)

      + id                  = (known after apply)

      + meta                = (known after apply)

      + modified_on         = (known after apply)

      + name                = "www"

      + proxiable           = (known after apply)

      + proxied             = true

      + settings            = (known after apply)

      + tags                = (known after apply)

      + tags_modified_on    = (known after apply)

      + ttl                 = 1

      + type                = "A"

      + zone_id             = "<YOUR_ZONE_ID>"

    }


Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.


Do you want to perform these actions?

  Terraform will perform the actions described above.

  Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve.


  Enter a value: yes


cloudflare_dns_record.www: Creating...

cloudflare_dns_record.www: Creation complete after 0s


Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.


```

After creation, verify the DNS record:

Terminal window

```

dig www.example.com


```

Test the web server response:

Terminal window

```

curl https://www.example.com


```

```

Hello, this is 203.0.113.10!


```

To see the full results returned from the API call:

Terminal window

```

terraform show


```

You can also check the Cloudflare dashboard and go to the **DNS** \> **Records** page.

[ Go to **Account home** ](https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/home) 

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/directory/","name":"Directory"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/terraform/","name":"Terraform"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"/terraform/tutorial/","name":"Tutorials"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@id":"/terraform/tutorial/initialize-terraform/","name":"1 –  Initialize Terraform"}}]}
```