58 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
58 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
|
---
|
||
|
|
layout: "language"
|
||
|
|
page_title: "Files and Directories - Configuration Language"
|
||
|
|
---
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
# Files and Directories
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## File Extension
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Code in the Terraform language is stored in plain text files with the `.tf` file
|
||
|
|
extension. There is also
|
||
|
|
[a JSON-based variant of the language](./syntax-json.html) that is named with
|
||
|
|
the `.tf.json` file extension.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Files containing Terraform code are often called _configuration files._
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## Text Encoding
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Configuration files must always use UTF-8 encoding, and by convention
|
||
|
|
usually use Unix-style line endings (LF) rather than Windows-style
|
||
|
|
line endings (CRLF), though both are accepted.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## Directories and Modules
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
A _module_ is a collection of `.tf` and/or `.tf.json` files kept together in a
|
||
|
|
directory.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
A Terraform module only consists of the top-level configuration files in a
|
||
|
|
directory; nested directories are treated as completely separate modules, and
|
||
|
|
are not automatically included in the configuration.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Terraform evaluates all of the configuration files in a module, effectively
|
||
|
|
treating the entire module as a single document. Separating various blocks into
|
||
|
|
different files is purely for the convenience of readers and maintainers, and
|
||
|
|
has no effect on the module's behavior.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
A Terraform module can use [module calls](/docs/configuration/modules.html) to
|
||
|
|
explicitly include other modules into the configuration. These child modules can
|
||
|
|
come from local directories (nested in the parent module's directory, or
|
||
|
|
anywhere else on disk), or from external sources like the
|
||
|
|
[Terraform Registry](https://registry.terraform.io).
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
## The Root Module
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Terraform always runs in the context of a single _root module._ A complete
|
||
|
|
_Terraform configuration_ consists of a root module and the tree of child
|
||
|
|
modules (which includes the modules called by the root module, any modules
|
||
|
|
called by those modules, etc.).
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
- In Terraform CLI, the root module is the working directory where Terraform is
|
||
|
|
invoked. (You can use command line options to specify a root module outside
|
||
|
|
the working directory, but in practice this is rare. )
|
||
|
|
- In Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise, the root module for a workspace
|
||
|
|
defaults to the top level of the configuration directory (supplied via version
|
||
|
|
control repository or direct upload), but the workspace settings can specify a
|
||
|
|
subdirectory to use instead.
|
||
|
|
|