diff --git a/website/source/docs/modules/sources.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/modules/sources.html.markdown
index 89d774c60..ff5fbff2c 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/modules/sources.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/modules/sources.html.markdown
@@ -2,20 +2,14 @@
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Module Sources"
sidebar_current: "docs-modules-sources"
-description: |-
- As documented in usage, the only required parameter when using a module is the `source` parameter which tells Terraform where the module can be found and what constraints to put on the module if any (such as branches for Git, versions, etc.).
+description: Explains the use of the source parameter, which tells Terraform where modules can be found.
---
# Module Sources
-As documented in [usage](/docs/modules/usage.html), the only required
-parameter when using a module is the `source` parameter which tells Terraform
-where the module can be found and what constraints to put on the module
-if any (such as branches for Git, versions, etc.).
+As documented in the [Usage section](/docs/modules/usage.html), the only required parameter when using a module is `source`. The `source` parameter tells Terraform where the module can be found and what constraints to put on the module. Constraints can include a specific version or Git branch.
-Terraform manages modules for you: it downloads them, organizes them
-on disk, checks for updates, etc. Terraform uses this source parameter for
-the download/update of modules.
+Terraform manages modules for you: it downloads them, organizes them on disk, checks for updates, etc. Terraform uses this `source` parameter to determine where it should retrieve and update modules from.
Terraform supports the following sources:
@@ -29,18 +23,11 @@ Terraform supports the following sources:
* HTTP URLs
-Note that all remote modules are git-based. The `HTTP URL` source redirects terraform to use another one of the sources.
-
Each is documented further below.
## Local File Paths
-The easiest source is the local file path. For maximum portability, this
-should be a relative file path into a subdirectory. This allows you to
-organize your Terraform configuration into modules within one repository,
-for example.
-
-An example is shown below:
+The easiest source is the local file path. For maximum portability, this should be a relative file path into a subdirectory. This allows you to organize your Terraform configuration into modules within one repository, for example:
```
module "consul" {
@@ -48,15 +35,11 @@ module "consul" {
}
```
-Updates for file paths are automatic: when "downloading" the module
-using the [get command](/docs/commands/get.html), Terraform will create
-a symbolic link to the original directory. Therefore, any changes are
-automatically instantly available.
+Updates for file paths are automatic: when "downloading" the module using the [get command](/docs/commands/get.html), Terraform will create a symbolic link to the original directory. Therefore, any changes are automatically available.
## GitHub
-Terraform will automatically recognize GitHub URLs and turn them into
-the proper Git repository. The syntax is simple:
+Terraform will automatically recognize GitHub URLs and turn them into a link to the specific Git repository. The syntax is simple:
```
module "consul" {
@@ -72,28 +55,17 @@ module "consul" {
}
```
-**Note:** The double-slash is important. It is what tells Terraform that
-that is the separator for a subdirectory, and not part of the repository
-itself.
+**Note:** The double-slash, `//`, is important. It is what tells Terraform that that is the separator for a subdirectory, and not part of the repository itself.
-GitHub source URLs will require that Git is installed on your system
-and that you have the proper access to the repository.
+GitHub source URLs require that Git is installed on your system and that you have access to the repository.
-You can use the same parameters to GitHub repositories as you can generic
-Git repositories (such as tags or branches). See the documentation for generic
-Git repositories for more information.
+You can use the same parameters to GitHub repositories as you can generic Git repositories (such as tags or branches). See the documentation for generic Git repositories for more information.
-#### Private GitHub Repos
+### Private GitHub Repos
-If you need Terraform to be able to fetch modules from private GitHub repos on
-a remote machine (like a Atlas or a CI server), you'll need to provide
-Terraform with credentials that can be used to authenticate as a user with read
-access to the private repo.
+If you need Terraform to be able to fetch modules from private GitHub repos on a remote machine (like Atlas or a CI server), you'll need to provide Terraform with credentials that can be used to authenticate as a user with read access to the private repo.
-First, create a [machine
-user](https://developer.github.com/guides/managing-deploy-keys/#machine-users)
-with access to read from the private repo in question, then embed this user's
-credentials into the source field:
+First, create a [machine user](https://developer.github.com/guides/managing-deploy-keys/#machine-users) on GitHub with read access to the private repo in question, then embed this user's credentials into the `source` parameter:
```
module "private-infra" {
@@ -101,20 +73,15 @@ module "private-infra" {
}
```
-Note that Terraform does not yet support interpolations in the `source` field,
-so the machine username and password will have to be embedded directly into the
-source string. You can track
-[GH-1439](https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/issues/1439) to learn when this
-limitation is lifted.
+**Note:** Terraform does not yet support interpolations in the `source` field, so the machine username and password will have to be embedded directly into the `source` string. You can track [GH-1439](https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/issues/1439) to learn when this limitation is addressed.
## BitBucket
-Terraform will automatically recognize BitBucket URLs and turn them into
-the proper Git or Mercurial repository. An example:
+Terraform will automatically recognize BitBucket URLs and turn them into a link to the specific Git or Mercurial repository, for example:
```
module "consul" {
- source = "bitbucket.org/hashicorp/example"
+ source = "bitbucket.org/hashicorp/consul"
}
```
@@ -122,123 +89,79 @@ Subdirectories within the repository can also be referenced:
```
module "consul" {
- source = "bitbucket.org/hashicorp/example//subdir"
+ source = "bitbucket.org/hashicorp/consul//subdir"
}
```
-**Note:** The double-slash is important. It is what tells Terraform that
-that is the separator for a subdirectory, and not part of the repository
-itself.
+**Note:** The double-slash, `//`, is important. It is what tells Terraform that this is the separator for a subdirectory, and not part of the repository itself.
-BitBucket URLs will require that Git or Mercurial is installed on your
-system, depending on the source URL.
+BitBucket URLs will require that Git or Mercurial is installed on your system, depending on the type of repository.
## Generic Git Repository
-Generic Git repositories are also supported. The value of `source` in this
-case should be a complete Git-compatible URL. Using Git requires that
-Git is installed on your system. Example:
+Generic Git repositories are also supported. The value of `source` in this case should be a complete Git-compatible URL. Using generic Git repositories requires that Git is installed on your system.
```
module "consul" {
- source = "git://hashicorp.com/module.git"
+ source = "git://hashicorp.com/consul.git"
}
```
-You can also use protocols such as HTTP or SSH, but you'll have to hint
-to Terraform (using the forced source type syntax documented below) to use
-Git:
+You can also use protocols such as HTTP or SSH to reference a module, but you'll have specify to Terraform that it is a Git module, by prefixing the URL with `git::` like so:
```
-// force https source
module "consul" {
- source = "git::https://hashicorp.com/module.git"
+ source = "git::https://hashicorp.com/consul.git"
}
-// force ssh source
module "ami" {
source = "git::ssh://git@github.com/owner/repo.git"
}
```
-URLs for Git repositories (of any protocol) support the following query
-parameters:
+If you do not specify the type of `source` then Terraform will attempt to use the closest match, for example assuming `https://hashicorp.com/consul.git` is a HTTP URL.
+
+The URLs for Git repositories support the following query parameters:
* `ref` - The ref to checkout. This can be a branch, tag, commit, etc.
-An example of using these parameters is shown below:
-
```
module "consul" {
- source = "git::https://hashicorp.com/module.git?ref=master"
+ source = "git::https://hashicorp.com/consul.git?ref=master"
}
```
## Generic Mercurial Repository
-Generic Mercurial repositories are supported. The value of `source` in this
-case should be a complete Mercurial-compatible URL. Using Mercurial requires that
-Mercurial is installed on your system. Example:
+Generic Mercurial repositories are supported. The value of `source` in this case should be a complete Mercurial-compatible URL. Using generic Mercurial repositories requires that Mercurial is installed on your system. You must tell Terraform that your `source` is a Mercurial repository by prefixing it with `hg::`.
```
module "consul" {
- source = "hg::http://hashicorp.com/module.hg"
+ source = "hg::http://hashicorp.com/consul.hg"
}
```
-In the case of above, we used the forced source type syntax documented below.
-Mercurial repositories require this.
-
-URLs for Mercurial repositories (of any protocol) support the following query
-parameters:
+URLs for Mercurial repositories support the following query parameters:
* `rev` - The rev to checkout. This can be a branch, tag, commit, etc.
+```
+module "consul" {
+ source = "hg::http://hashicorp.com/consul.hg?ref=master"
+}
+```
+
## HTTP URLs
-An HTTP URL can be used to redirect Terraform to get the module source from
-one of the other sources. For HTTP URLs (SSL is supported, as well),
-Terraform will make a GET request to the given URL.
-An additional GET parameter `terraform-get=1` will be appended, allowing
+An HTTP or HTTPS URL can be used to redirect Terraform to get the module source from one of the other sources. For HTTP URLs, Terraform will make a `GET` request to the given URL. An additional `GET` parameter, `terraform-get=1`, will be appended, allowing
you to optionally render the page differently when Terraform is requesting it.
-Terraform then looks for the resulting module URL in the following order.
+Terraform then looks for the resulting module URL in the following order:
-First, if a header `X-Terraform-Get` is present, then it should contain
-the source URL of the actual module. This will be used.
+1. Terraform will look to see if the header `X-Terraform-Get` is present. The header should contain the source URL of the actual module.
-If the header isn't present, Terraform will look for a `` tag
-with the name of "terraform-get". The value will be used as the source
-URL.
-
-Example:
+2. Terraform will look for a `` tag with the name of `terraform-get`, for example:
```
```
-
-## Forced Source Type
-
-In a couple places above, we've referenced "forced source type." Forced
-source type is a syntax added to URLs that allow you to force a specific
-method for download/updating the module. It is used to disambiguate URLs.
-
-For example, the source "http://hashicorp.com/foo.git" could just as
-easily be a plain HTTP URL as it might be a Git repository speaking the
-HTTP protocol. The forced source type syntax is used to force Terraform
-one way or the other.
-
-Example:
-
-```
-module "consul" {
- source = "git::http://hashicorp.com/foo.git"
-}
-```
-
-The above will force Terraform to get the module using Git, despite it
-being an HTTP URL.
-
-If a forced source type isn't specified, Terraform will match the exact
-protocol if it supports it. It will not try multiple methods. In the case
-above, it would've used the HTTP method.