Install Windows

Terraform runs perfectly well on Windows. There are several ways to install it, and we will walk through each one clearly. We will also cover the recommended approach for DevOps engineers on Windows — using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) — which gives you a real Linux environment inside Windows, making it much easier to work with Terraform and other DevOps tools.

Installation methods covered in this file:

1. Using Chocolatey (Windows package manager — recommended for Windows users)
2. Using winget (built-in Windows package manager)
3. Manual installation (download and set up manually)
4. Using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) — strongly recommended for DevOps work

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 (version 1903 or later) or Windows 11
• Administrator access for some installation methods
• Internet connection

Method 1: Using Chocolatey (Recommended for Windows)

Chocolatey is the most popular package manager for Windows. It works similarly to apt on Ubuntu or brew on macOS. If you do DevOps work on Windows, Chocolatey is worth having.

Step 1: Install Chocolatey

Open PowerShell as Administrator (right-click PowerShell → "Run as Administrator") and run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072
iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

After installation, close and reopen PowerShell (as Administrator again), then verify:

choco --version

Step 2: Install Terraform

choco install terraform

Chocolatey will download and install Terraform automatically.

Step 3: Verify the installation

Close and reopen PowerShell (not as administrator this time), then:

terraform version

Expected output:

Terraform v1.6.6
on windows_amd64

Updating Terraform with Chocolatey

choco upgrade terraform

Method 2: Using winget (Built into Windows 10/11)

winget is Microsoft's official package manager, built into Windows 10 (version 1809+) and Windows 11. No installation required.

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run:

winget install HashiCorp.Terraform

Verify:

terraform version

To upgrade later:

winget upgrade HashiCorp.Terraform

Method 3: Manual Installation

Use this method when you cannot use a package manager or need a very specific version.

Step 1: Download Terraform

1. Open your browser and go to: https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/
2. Click on the latest version (e.g., 1.6.6)
3. Download the file: terraform_1.6.6_windows_amd64.zip

Or download directly from PowerShell:

$TF_VERSION = "1.6.6"
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/$TF_VERSION/terraform_${TF_VERSION}_windows_amd64.zip" -OutFile "terraform_$TF_VERSION.zip"

Step 2: Extract the zip file

Expand-Archive -Path "terraform_$TF_VERSION.zip" -DestinationPath "C:\terraform"

This creates a folder C:\terraform containing the terraform.exe file.

Step 3: Add Terraform to your PATH

This step is important — without it, Windows won't know where to find the terraform command.

Option A: Through the GUI (easy)

1. Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, press Enter
2. Go to the Advanced tab → click Environment Variables
3. Under System variables, find Path and click Edit
4. Click New and add: C:\terraform
5. Click OK on all dialogs
6. Close and reopen Command Prompt or PowerShell

Option B: Through PowerShell (faster)

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
  "Path",
  $env:Path + ";C:\terraform",
  [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine
)

Close and reopen PowerShell after running this.

Step 4: Verify the installation

terraform version

Step 5: Clean up

Remove-Item "terraform_$TF_VERSION.zip"

Method 4: Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) — Strongly Recommended

If you are doing serious DevOps work on Windows, WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) is the best approach. Here is why:

• Most DevOps tools (Terraform, kubectl, Helm, AWS CLI, Docker, etc.) are designed for Linux/macOS
• Shell scripts and bash commands in tutorials and documentation are written for Linux
• WSL gives you a full Ubuntu (or other Linux distro) environment inside Windows
• You can use the exact same commands and workflows as Linux DevOps engineers

Step 1: Enable WSL

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

wsl --install

This installs WSL2 with Ubuntu by default. Restart your computer when prompted.

If you already have WSL but want to make sure you have WSL2:

wsl --set-default-version 2

Step 2: Set up Ubuntu

After restart, Ubuntu will open automatically and ask you to create a username and password. This is your Linux user — choose something easy to remember.

Step 3: Update Ubuntu

In the Ubuntu terminal:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Step 4: Install Terraform inside WSL

Now follow the Linux installation steps from the install-linux.md file. Inside WSL, you are running a full Ubuntu system, so the Linux instructions apply exactly.

Quick version for Ubuntu in WSL:

# Install dependencies
sudo apt-get install -y gnupg software-properties-common curl wget

# Add HashiCorp GPG key
wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | \
  gpg --dearmor | \
  sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null

# Add repository
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

# Install Terraform
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y terraform

# Verify
terraform version

Step 5: Access your Windows files from WSL

Your Windows drives are accessible inside WSL at /mnt/:

• C:\ drive → /mnt/c/
• D:\ drive → /mnt/d/

To navigate to your Windows Desktop from WSL:

cd /mnt/c/Users/YourUsername/Desktop

However, it is recommended to keep your Terraform project files in the Linux filesystem (~/projects/) rather than the Windows filesystem for better performance.

Step 6: Using VS Code with WSL

VS Code has excellent WSL integration. To open VS Code from WSL:

code .

VS Code will open on Windows but will be connected to the WSL filesystem. This gives you the best of both worlds — a Windows GUI with a Linux backend.

Recommended Terminal for Windows Terraform Work

Regardless of which installation method you use, we recommend installing Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store. It supports multiple tabs (PowerShell, Command Prompt, WSL) in one window and is much better than the default terminals.

Install from PowerShell:

winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal

Installing the AWS CLI on Windows

You will need the AWS CLI for the next chapter on provider authentication.

Using winget:

winget install Amazon.AWSCLI

Manual installation:

1. Download the installer from: https://awscli.amazonaws.com/AWSCLIV2.msi
2. Run the installer
3. Verify:

aws --version

Inside WSL:

curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install
aws --version

After installing, configure AWS credentials:

aws configure

Enter your:

• AWS Access Key ID
• AWS Secret Access Key
• Default region (e.g., us-east-1)
• Output format (json)

Verifying Everything Works

After installation, run these checks:

Check Terraform:

terraform version

Quick initialization test:

mkdir C:\temp\tf-test
cd C:\temp\tf-test

# Create a simple config file
@"
terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.0"
}
"@ | Out-File -FilePath main.tf -Encoding UTF8

terraform init

If terraform init completes successfully, your installation is working.

Comparing Installation Methods on Windows

Our recommendation: If you plan to do serious DevOps work on Windows, set up WSL and do everything inside it. You will have a much smoother experience with all DevOps tools, not just Terraform.

Common Issues on Windows

Issue: "terraform is not recognized as an internal or external command"

Cause: Terraform's directory is not in your PATH.

Fix:

1. Find where terraform.exe is located
2. Add that directory to your System PATH (see Step 3 in the manual installation above)
3. Restart your terminal

Issue: PowerShell execution policy error

File cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system

Fix:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Issue: "Access is denied" during installation

Fix: Run PowerShell or Command Prompt as Administrator (right-click → "Run as Administrator").

Issue: Terraform works in Command Prompt but not in PowerShell (or vice versa)

Fix: Open a new terminal window after adding to PATH. Changes to environment variables don't apply to already-open terminal windows.

Summary

• Windows has multiple good options for installing Terraform: Chocolatey, winget, and manual
• Chocolatey is the most convenient for Windows users who want easy updates
• winget is the simplest option since it is built into Windows 10/11
• WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) is the strongly recommended approach for serious DevOps work — it gives you a full Linux environment inside Windows
• Always verify installation with terraform version
• Install the AWS CLI alongside Terraform — you will need it for authentication in Chapter 6
• Use Windows Terminal for a better terminal experience on Windows

In the next chapter, we move to setting up providers — starting with how to configure and authenticate with AWS.