Quick Start Guide

Deploy your first AWS VPC in minutes using this Terraform module

Get your production-ready VPC infrastructure up and running in just a few steps.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Terraform installed (version 0.12 or later recommended)
• AWS credentials configured
• Basic understanding of VPC concepts

Basic Deployment

1. Create a Terraform configuration file

   Create a new file named main.tf with the following content:

   main.tf

   module "vpc" {
     source = "github.com/Planview/tf_aws_vpc"
   
     name = "my-vpc"
     cidr = "10.0.0.0/16"
     
     azs             = ["us-west-2a", "us-west-2b", "us-west-2c"]
     private_subnets = ["10.0.1.0/24", "10.0.2.0/24", "10.0.3.0/24"]
     public_subnets  = ["10.0.101.0/24", "10.0.102.0/24", "10.0.103.0/24"]
     
     enable_nat_gateway   = true
     enable_dns_hostnames = true
     enable_dns_support   = true
     
     tags = {
       Terraform   = "true"
       Environment = "production"
     }
   }
   

   This creates a basic multi-AZ VPC with:

   • 3 public subnets (one per AZ)
   • 3 private subnets (one per AZ)
   • NAT Gateways for private subnet internet access
   • DNS support enabled
2. Add outputs to reference VPC resources

   Add this to your main.tf to access the created resources:

   main.tf

   output "vpc_id" {
     description = "The ID of the VPC"
     value       = module.vpc.vpc_id
   }
   
   output "private_subnets" {
     description = "List of IDs of private subnets"
     value       = module.vpc.private_subnets
   }
   
   output "public_subnets" {
     description = "List of IDs of public subnets"
     value       = module.vpc.public_subnets
   }
   
3. Initialize Terraform

   Run the following command to download the module:

   terraform init
   
4. Review the plan

   See what resources will be created:

   terraform plan
   

   You should see approximately 15+ resources being created, including:

   • 1 VPC
   • 6 subnets (3 public, 3 private)
   • 1 Internet Gateway
   • 3 NAT Gateways
   • Route tables and associations
5. Apply the configuration

   Create the infrastructure:

   terraform apply
   

   Type yes when prompted to confirm.

   NAT Gateways cost approximately $0.045/hour ($32/month) per gateway. This basic configuration creates 3 NAT Gateways. Consider using single_nat_gateway = true for development environments to reduce costs.

6. Verify the outputs

   After the deployment completes, you’ll see the outputs:

   Outputs:
   
   vpc_id = "vpc-1234567890abcdef0"
   private_subnets = [
     "subnet-1234567890abcdef0",
     "subnet-1234567890abcdef1",
     "subnet-1234567890abcdef2",
   ]
   public_subnets = [
     "subnet-1234567890abcdef3",
     "subnet-1234567890abcdef4",
     "subnet-1234567890abcdef5",
   ]
   

Alternative Configurations

Cost-Optimized (Single NAT)

For development or staging environments, use a single shared NAT Gateway:

main.tf

module "vpc" {
  source = "github.com/Planview/tf_aws_vpc"

  name = "dev-vpc"
  cidr = "10.0.0.0/16"
  
  azs             = ["us-west-2a", "us-west-2b"]
  private_subnets = ["10.0.1.0/24", "10.0.2.0/24"]
  public_subnets  = ["10.0.101.0/24", "10.0.102.0/24"]
  
  enable_nat_gateway   = true
  single_nat_gateway   = true
  enable_dns_hostnames = true
  
  tags = {
    Terraform   = "true"
    Environment = "development"
  }
}

This reduces NAT Gateway costs by ~66% but sacrifices redundancy.

With Database Subnets

Add database subnets for RDS or other database services:

main.tf

module "vpc" {
  source = "github.com/Planview/tf_aws_vpc"

  name = "production-vpc"
  cidr = "10.0.0.0/16"
  
  azs             = ["us-west-2a", "us-west-2b", "us-west-2c"]
  private_subnets = ["10.0.1.0/24", "10.0.2.0/24", "10.0.3.0/24"]
  public_subnets  = ["10.0.101.0/24", "10.0.102.0/24", "10.0.103.0/24"]
  database_subnets = ["10.0.201.0/24", "10.0.202.0/24", "10.0.203.0/24"]
  
  create_database_subnet_group = true
  
  enable_nat_gateway   = true
  enable_dns_hostnames = true
  
  tags = {
    Terraform   = "true"
    Environment = "production"
  }
}

output "database_subnet_group" {
  value = module.vpc.database_subnet_group
}

With VPC Endpoints

Add S3 and DynamoDB VPC endpoints to reduce data transfer costs:

main.tf

module "vpc" {
  source = "github.com/Planview/tf_aws_vpc"

  name = "production-vpc"
  cidr = "10.0.0.0/16"
  
  azs             = ["us-west-2a", "us-west-2b", "us-west-2c"]
  private_subnets = ["10.0.1.0/24", "10.0.2.0/24", "10.0.3.0/24"]
  public_subnets  = ["10.0.101.0/24", "10.0.102.0/24", "10.0.103.0/24"]
  
  enable_nat_gateway      = true
  enable_s3_endpoint      = true
  enable_dynamodb_endpoint = true
  enable_dns_hostnames    = true
  
  tags = {
    Terraform   = "true"
    Environment = "production"
  }
}

VPC endpoints allow private connectivity to AWS services without traversing the internet or NAT Gateway.

Complete Production Setup

A comprehensive configuration with all features:

main.tf

module "vpc" {
  source = "github.com/Planview/tf_aws_vpc"

  name = "production-vpc"
  cidr = "10.0.0.0/16"
  
  azs                 = ["us-west-2a", "us-west-2b", "us-west-2c"]
  private_subnets     = ["10.0.1.0/24", "10.0.2.0/24", "10.0.3.0/24"]
  public_subnets      = ["10.0.101.0/24", "10.0.102.0/24", "10.0.103.0/24"]
  database_subnets    = ["10.0.201.0/24", "10.0.202.0/24", "10.0.203.0/24"]
  elasticache_subnets = ["10.0.211.0/24", "10.0.212.0/24", "10.0.213.0/24"]
  
  create_database_subnet_group = true
  
  enable_nat_gateway       = true
  enable_dns_hostnames     = true
  enable_dns_support       = true
  enable_s3_endpoint       = true
  enable_dynamodb_endpoint = true
  
  tags = {
    Terraform   = "true"
    Environment = "production"
    Project     = "MyApp"
  }
  
  public_subnet_tags = {
    Type = "Public"
  }
  
  private_subnet_tags = {
    Type = "Private"
  }
  
  database_subnet_tags = {
    Type = "Database"
  }
}

Using Module Outputs

Once your VPC is deployed, you can use its outputs in other resources:

EC2 Instance

resource "aws_instance" "app" {
  ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
  instance_type = "t3.micro"
  
  subnet_id              = module.vpc.private_subnets[0]
  vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.app.id]
  
  tags = {
    Name = "app-server"
  }
}

RDS Database

resource "aws_db_instance" "main" {
  identifier             = "mydb"
  engine                 = "postgres"
  engine_version         = "13.7"
  instance_class         = "db.t3.micro"
  
  db_subnet_group_name   = module.vpc.database_subnet_group
  vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.database.id]
  
  allocated_storage = 20
  username          = "dbadmin"
  password          = var.db_password
  
  skip_final_snapshot = true
}

Application Load Balancer

resource "aws_lb" "main" {
  name               = "app-alb"
  internal           = false
  load_balancer_type = "application"
  
  subnets            = module.vpc.public_subnets
  security_groups    = [aws_security_group.alb.id]
  
  tags = {
    Name = "app-alb"
  }
}

Security Group

resource "aws_security_group" "app" {
  name_prefix = "app-sg"
  vpc_id      = module.vpc.vpc_id
  
  ingress {
    from_port   = 80
    to_port     = 80
    protocol    = "tcp"
    cidr_blocks = ["10.0.0.0/16"]
  }
  
  egress {
    from_port   = 0
    to_port     = 0
    protocol    = "-1"
    cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
  }
}

Available Outputs

The module provides these outputs that you can reference:

Output	Description	Example Usage
vpc_id	VPC ID	Security group vpc_id
vpc_cidr_block	VPC CIDR block	Network planning
private_subnets	Private subnet IDs	EC2, ECS, Lambda
public_subnets	Public subnet IDs	Load balancers, NAT
database_subnets	Database subnet IDs	RDS instances
elasticache_subnets	ElastiCache subnet IDs	Redis, Memcached
database_subnet_group	DB subnet group name	RDS configuration
elasticache_subnet_group	ElastiCache subnet group name	ElastiCache configuration
natgw_ids	NAT Gateway IDs	Monitoring, cost tracking
nat_eips_public_ips	NAT Gateway public IPs	Whitelisting
igw_id	Internet Gateway ID	Route table configuration
public_route_table_ids	Public route table IDs	Custom routes
private_route_table_ids	Private route table IDs	Custom routes
default_security_group_id	Default security group ID	Security group rules
vpc_endpoint_s3_id	S3 VPC Endpoint ID	Policy configuration
vpc_endpoint_dynamodb_id	DynamoDB VPC Endpoint ID	Policy configuration

See the Outputs Reference for complete details.

Cleanup

To destroy the VPC and all associated resources:

terraform destroy

This will permanently delete all resources created by the module. Ensure you have no running resources (EC2 instances, RDS databases, etc.) using the VPC before destroying it.

Next Steps

Configuration Options

Explore all available configuration variables

Architecture Guide

Understand the VPC architecture and design

Examples

See more detailed deployment examples

Reference

Complete input and output reference