What’s the best practice to manage multiple environments

Question

👋 Hello DevOps Gurus! I’m working on infrastructure automation using Terraform and I’m a bit stuck! 🛠️ I want to know: 👉 What’s the best practice to manage multiple environments (like Dev, QA, UAT, Prod) using Terraform? Should I create separate state files? 📂 Or use workspaces? 🏢 Or keep everything in separate folders/modules? 📦 I want to keep things clean, scalable, and easy to manage . ✨ 💡 What strategy do you recommend and why? Any real-world insights or examples would be super helpful! 💬 Thanks in advance! 🙏

Sarthak Varshney · Answer

Hello @Ck_Nitin sir I’ve worked with Terraform for managing different environments, and here's what I’ve found works best: Separate folders for each environment : I usually create folders like dev/ , qa/ , prod/ , and inside each, I keep their own main.tf , variables.tf , and terraform.tfvars . This keeps everything clear and separate. It's easy to test changes in dev without touching prod. Separate state files: Each environment should have its own state file. I use a remote backend like S3 (with different paths for each env) and lock the state with DynamoDB to avoid conflicts. Modules for reusable code: If most of your code is the same across environments, it's a good idea to put common parts in a module and just pass different variables from each environment folder. About workspaces: I tried workspaces in the beginning, but they can be confusing for larger teams or complex setups. They’re fine for small setups, but for clear separation, folders and separate state files feel safer and easier to manage. So overall: Use separate folders Keep different state files Use modules to reuse code Avoid workspaces for big projects

Ck Nitin · Answer

Thank you, Sarthak

What’s the best practice to manage multiple environments

Answers (2)