Getting started with Terraform on Debian - simple steps

Install Terraform with package manager:

wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install terraform

Check the version:

terraform version

Switch directory:

cd /tmp
mkdir simplefile
cd simplefile

Create a new file local.tf in that directory:

vim local.tf

With following contents:

resource "local_file" "pet" {
  filename = "/tmp/pets.txt"
  content = "We love pets!"
}

Run:

terraform init

After that:

terraform plan

and review the output.

And finally:

terraform apply

and type yes.

View the file:

ls -la /tmp/pets.txt
cat /tmp/pets.txt

To destroy this resource (delete this file) - run:

terraform destroy

and type yes.

File will be deleted.

Also, you can experiment by modifying the contents of the file and try plan and apply after that.