How to use Terratest to test Infrastructure as Code Terraform modules on Azure. A good practice is to use the Terraform module as a collection of Terraform resources that serves a specific purpose. In this blog post, we are going to look into how we can leverage a generic Terratest for all Azure-based Terraform modules.

A module can even be a composition of multiple child modules. To create a reusable Terraform module, we are first going to look into a typical Terraform module structure.

What is a Terraform module?

Leveraging open-source modules from the Terraform registry is a good practice and a quick way to get started. However, enterprise organizations typically require a private registry. The private registry should ensure full control and consistency across the source code. The private registry is a good practice so that enterprise organizations can create a common place for reusable Terraform modules, that can be shared across the organization.

The easiest way to achieve this is to provide a Github or Azure DevOps release artifact. Using tags (and releases) we can version our release of the module easily. The Azure Cloud Adoption Framework landing zones for Terraform uses a similar approach for versioning modules e.g. CAF: Azure Monitor Log Analytics. I expect that the CI/CD system has access to the source-control system, fetching the releases should therefore not be a problem.

Modules should be organized in separate dedicated repositories inside of the source control system. A dedicate repository ensures a good release strategy. Based on releases or tags that contain changelog information a module can safely be published. The Terraform source argument can then be used to reference a specific git endpoint, see usage of a Terraform module, e.g. a certain release version of a module or even specific commits.

Terraform files are typically grouped into modules. A basic module structure looks like this:

# terraform_module/     # Documentation, typically generated using       # Collection of Terraform resources, Resources should be split into separate files  # 'Input' Parameter of the Terraform module     # 'Output' Parameter of the Terraform module
test/         # Contents of this blog post
docs/         # Further documentation for the module if needed

Notice, that the common is missing. Learn more about why in generic test

Usage of a Terraform module

Once a Terraform module is released, we can leverage the module using the source argument.


module "log_analytics" {
  source = "git::"

    name                              =
    solution_plan_map                 =
    resource_group_name               = var.rg
    prefix                            = var.prefix
    location                          = var.location
    tags                              = var.tags

Testing Terraform Modules

We can use Terratest to run integration tests with Terraform. Inside of the repository for the Terraform module create a folder named test; add the following files:

  • test.vars,
  •, and
  • generic_test.go.

To get up and running you need to specify the backend test environment. Using environment variables in Terraform allows us to specify the the necessary backend configuration in an .env file. This is also very handy for testing across multiple backends and staging environments.

A good practice is to run tests in a dedicated test resource group, e.g. resource_group_name = "playground-test-resources". The test resources should also be tagged as such, using the terraform tags argument: tags = { test = true }, see Test Values.

Tagging the resources and using a dedicated test resource group is recommended for identification and cleanup purposes. When a test fails or the pipeline crashes the provisioned resources can easily be found and removed.

Test Process

  1. Creates a random name that is used for testing
  2. Create terraform options, e.g. references a static test.vars
    • options are similar to the terraform command line arguments like plan -input=false -lock=false -var name=t7943 -var-file ./test/test.vars -lock=false
  3. Moves into the module (../)
  4. Run terraform plan & terraform apply
  5. Run terraform destroy
  6. Move back

Generic Test

Create a file that contains the minimum Terraform provider version that should be tested. This file will be moved during the test in order to execute the module.


# Local provider for testing
provider "azurerm" {
  version = "=2.3.0"
  features {}

The provider is mandatory for initializing the module. It is used to ensure parameters and features are versioned and accessible through a specific version, while protection from breaking-changes that might impact existing configurations. Most of the time (🤡) providers are back-compatible, we should ensure to test the provider version based on our users requirements.

We want to create reusable, composable and compatible Terraform modules. Also, we want to ensure that the consumer of our module can provide a specific provider version for their needs. The purpose of the Terraform module is to make it reusable and composable with different provider versions.

We thus want to make sure we tested the module using a a specific version, or test with multiple different versions in one go. Inside of the release notes a hint to the tested provider version might be a good addition.

Test Values

Create a test.vars file that contains all the dynamic variables needed to deploy the Terraform module. Per module and test, we have to change the values in test.vars to match the subject under test (SUT).

Using a dedicated file for the test configuration allows us to reuse as much code as possible, while using a reproducible test input. We can even create multiple test.vars that get tested in a loop to check for different configuration inputs. Leveraging this, we can test different variables like regions or sizes in one test run.

# test.vars

resource_group_name = "playground-test-resources"
location            = "WestEurope"

tags = {
  test = true

Test File

Create a Terratest test file, e.g. generic_test.go and paste the following content. The test will assume that it is located in a test folder, and the SUT is located in the parent.

The file expects a test.vars and to be present in the same directory.

In order to reuse the test, the test will create a unique name based on a random number. The name variable will then be mapped to the Terraform variables using:

// generic_test.go

expectedName := fmt.Sprintf("t%d", rand.Intn(9999))

// ...

Vars: map[string]interface{}{
  "name": expectedName,

// ...

Thus, make sure that the name of the Azure resource is mapped to a Terraform variable called name. As most Terraform providers are using name, it is a good practice to adapt this convention for modules, too.

This is a very generic test, that will ensure the Terraform module is plan- and apply-able. In order to validate that properties are deployed as expected a more specific test should be created. You can leverage go’s programming language to attach specific test cases to this generic test if needed.

Note: Make sure the Terraform module uses as the resource name, make sure test.vars contains the test specific variables, has the correct provider version configured, and all files including generic_test.go are in the folder test.

The generic test can be reused across Terraform modules, the only requirement is to stick to a convention, e.g. the name variable. Havening a generic test is in most cases better than havening none. We can always exchange the generic test with a more sophisticated test case later.


During development or when a test cases fails you can just comment out terraform.InitAndApply.

// This will run `terraform init` and `terraform apply` and fail the test if there are any errors
terraform.InitAndApply(t, terraformOptions)

This will only run terraform plan, instead of trying to apply. This is useful for debugging, without changing the resources provisioned by Terraform. This is also very useful when a given test has a long runtime or for troubleshooting configuration changes quickly.

A timeout based on a long deployment time can be addressed by adding the timeout property to the Terragrunt test invocation.