Managing Multiple Terraform Versions with asdf

ToC

• Why I recommend asdf
• Installing asdf on macOS
• Adding the terraform plugin & installing multiple versions
• Specifying a version for a specific directory only
• tflint and tfsec can be managed with asdf in the same way

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Terraform is updated frequently, and version differences tend to arise between projects, so being able to manage multiple versions makes operations smoother.

Why I recommend asdf

If all you need is to manage Terraform versions, tfenv is the popular choice.

However, since I also recommend adopting tflint and tfsec, asdf lets you manage versions of all these libraries using the same approach, which is why I recommend it.

Installing asdf on macOS

Reference: https://asdf-vm.com/guide/getting-started.html

$ brew install asdf

// For zsh
$ echo -e "\n. \"$(brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.sh\"" >> ~/.zshrc

// Reload
$ exec $SHELL -l

Adding the terraform plugin & installing multiple versions

$ asdf plugin add terraform

// Show the list of versions installable via asdf
$ asdf list all terraform

...
1.5.0
...

// Install 1.5.0
$ asdf install terraform 1.5.0

Specifying a version for a specific directory only

$ cd path/to/terraform-project
$ asdf local terraform 1.5.0
$ asdf reshim terraform

A .tool-versions file is generated, and the version is managed as follows.

terraform 1.5.0

When a .tool-versions file is specified, that version will be used under that directory as long as it is installed.

tflint and tfsec can be managed with asdf in the same way

$ asdf plugin add tflint
$ asdf plugin add tfsec

I use this when I want to try out behavioral changes caused by version upgrades of tflint and tfsec locally.

That’s all.
I hope you find this helpful.