---
layout: "language"
page_title: "Creating Modules"
sidebar_current: "docs-modules"
description: "Modules are containers for multiple resources that are used together in a configuration. Learn when to create modules and about module structure."
---

# Creating Modules

> **Hands-on:** Try the [Reuse Configuration with Modules](https://learn.hashicorp.com/collections/terraform/modules?utm_source=WEBSITE&utm_medium=WEB_IO&utm_offer=ARTICLE_PAGE&utm_content=DOCS) collection on HashiCorp Learn.

A _module_ is a container for multiple resources that are used together.
Modules can be used to create lightweight abstractions, so that you can
describe your infrastructure in terms of its architecture, rather than
directly in terms of physical objects.

The `.tf` files in your working directory when you run [`terraform plan`](/docs/cli/commands/plan.html)
or [`terraform apply`](/docs/cli/commands/apply.html) together form the _root_
module. That module may [call other modules](/docs/language/modules/syntax.html#calling-a-child-module)
and connect them together by passing output values from one to input values
of another.

To learn how to _use_ modules, see [the Modules configuration section](/docs/language/modules/index.html).
This section is about _creating_ re-usable modules that other configurations
can include using `module` blocks.

## Module structure

Re-usable modules are defined using all of the same
[configuration language](/docs/language/index.html) concepts we use in root modules.
Most commonly, modules use:

* [Input variables](/docs/language/values/variables.html) to accept values from
  the calling module.
* [Output values](/docs/language/values/outputs.html) to return results to the
  calling module, which it can then use to populate arguments elsewhere.
* [Resources](/docs/language/resources/index.html) to define one or more
  infrastructure objects that the module will manage.

To define a module, create a new directory for it and place one or more `.tf`
files inside just as you would do for a root module. Terraform can load modules
either from local relative paths or from remote repositories; if a module will
be re-used by lots of configurations you may wish to place it in its own
version control repository.

Modules can also call other modules using a `module` block, but we recommend
keeping the module tree relatively flat and using [module composition](./composition.html)
as an alternative to a deeply-nested tree of modules, because this makes
the individual modules easier to re-use in different combinations.

## When to write a module

In principle any combination of resources and other constructs can be factored
out into a module, but over-using modules can make your overall Terraform
configuration harder to understand and maintain, so we recommend moderation.

A good module should raise the level of abstraction by describing a new concept
in your architecture that is constructed from resource types offered by
providers.

For example, `aws_instance` and `aws_elb` are both resource types belonging to
the AWS provider. You might use a module to represent the higher-level concept
"[HashiCorp Consul](https://www.consul.io/) cluster running in AWS" which
happens to be constructed from these and other AWS provider resources.

We _do not_ recommend writing modules that are just thin wrappers around single
other resource types. If you have trouble finding a name for your module that
isn't the same as the main resource type inside it, that may be a sign that
your module is not creating any new abstraction and so the module is
adding unnecessary complexity. Just use the resource type directly in the
calling module instead.

## Refactoring module resources

You can include [refactoring blocks](refactoring.html) to record how resource
names and module structure have changed from previous module versions.
Terraform uses that information during planning to reinterpret existing objects
as if they had been created at the corresponding new addresses, eliminating a
separate workflow step to replace or migrate existing objects.