OpenTofu Deployment Guide on RamNode VPS

Why OpenTofu?

Open Source Licensing

Mozilla Public License 2.0

Terraform Compatibility

Drop-in replacement for Terraform 1.5.x and earlier

Community-Driven

Backed by the Linux Foundation

Provider Ecosystem

Access to thousands of providers

State Management

Built-in state tracking for infrastructure changes

Recommended VPS Specifications

Use Case	RAM	Storage	Notes
Minimum	1GB	10GB SSD	Small projects
Recommended	2GB+	20GB SSD	Larger infrastructures

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

System Requirements

• RamNode VPS with at least 1GB RAM
• Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, or Rocky Linux 9
• Root or sudo access
• SSH client installed locally

Optional

• Basic command-line familiarity
• API credentials for target providers
• Git for version control

Package Manager Installation (Recommended)

This method uses the official OpenTofu repository for easy installation and updates.

For Ubuntu/Debian:

Install Prerequisites

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y curl gnupg software-properties-common

Add OpenTofu Repository & Install

# Add OpenTofu GPG key
curl -fsSL https://get.opentofu.org/opentofu.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/opentofu-archive-keyring.gpg

# Add OpenTofu repository
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/opentofu-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.opentofu.org/opentofu/tofu/any/ any main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opentofu.list

# Update package list and install OpenTofu
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y tofu

For Rocky Linux/RHEL:

Install on Rocky Linux

# Install prerequisites
sudo dnf install -y yum-utils

# Add OpenTofu repository
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://packages.opentofu.org/opentofu/tofu/rpm/el/opentofu.repo

# Install OpenTofu
sudo dnf install -y tofu

Standalone Binary Installation (Alternative)

For more control over the installation or if you need a specific version:

Download & Install Binary

# Download the latest release
TOFU_VERSION="1.6.0"
wget https://github.com/opentofu/opentofu/releases/download/v${TOFU_VERSION}/tofu_${TOFU_VERSION}_linux_amd64.zip

# Install unzip if not already present
sudo apt-get install -y unzip

# Extract and install
unzip tofu_${TOFU_VERSION}_linux_amd64.zip
sudo mv tofu /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/tofu

# Clean up
rm tofu_${TOFU_VERSION}_linux_amd64.zip

Verify Installation

Confirm OpenTofu is properly installed:

Check Version

tofu version

Expected Output

OpenTofu v1.6.0
on linux_amd64

✓ OpenTofu is now installed and ready to use!

Setting Up Your First Project

Create a dedicated directory for your OpenTofu configurations:

Create Project Directory

mkdir -p ~/infrastructure/ramnode-demo
cd ~/infrastructure/ramnode-demo

Basic Configuration Structure

OpenTofu uses HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) for defining infrastructure. Create a basic configuration file:

Create main.tf

nano main.tf

main.tf - Simple Example

terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.6.0"
  required_providers {
    local = {
      source  = "hashicorp/local"
      version = "~> 2.4"
    }
  }
}

resource "local_file" "example" {
  content  = "Hello from OpenTofu on RamNode!"
  filename = "${path.module}/hello.txt"
}

output "file_path" {
  value = local_file.example.filename
}

Initialize and Apply

Initialize OpenTofu to download required providers:

Initialize Project

tofu init

This command downloads necessary provider plugins and prepares your working directory.

Preview Changes

tofu plan

Apply Configuration

tofu apply

⚠️ Type yes when prompted to confirm the changes.

Practical Example: Cloud Provider

Here's a more practical example managing a DigitalOcean droplet (adaptable for other providers):

Configure Provider Credentials

Create a variables file for sensitive data:

terraform.tfvars

do_token = "your_digitalocean_api_token_here"

⚠️ Important: Add this file to .gitignore to prevent committing credentials!

Create .gitignore

echo "terraform.tfvars" >> .gitignore
echo ".terraform/" >> .gitignore
echo "*.tfstate*" >> .gitignore

Create the Configuration

digitalocean.tf

terraform {
  required_providers {
    digitalocean = {
      source  = "digitalocean/digitalocean"
      version = "~> 2.34"
    }
  }
}

variable "do_token" {
  description = "DigitalOcean API Token"
  type        = string
  sensitive   = true
}

provider "digitalocean" {
  token = var.do_token
}

resource "digitalocean_droplet" "web" {
  image  = "ubuntu-22-04-x64"
  name   = "web-server"
  region = "nyc3"
  size   = "s-1vcpu-1gb"
  tags   = ["web", "production"]
}

output "droplet_ip" {
  value = digitalocean_droplet.web.ipv4_address
}

Deploy the Infrastructure

# Initialize with new provider
tofu init

# Review the plan
tofu plan

# Apply the configuration
tofu apply

Security Best Practices

Secure Credential Management

Never hardcode credentials. Use environment variables or secret management tools:

Create Secure Credentials File

nano ~/.tofu_credentials

~/.tofu_credentials

export TF_VAR_do_token="your_token_here"
export TF_VAR_aws_access_key="your_key_here"
export TF_VAR_aws_secret_key="your_secret_here"

Secure & Source Credentials

# Restrict permissions
chmod 600 ~/.tofu_credentials

# Source when needed
source ~/.tofu_credentials

Additional Security Tips

Use remote state backends (S3, GCS) for team collaboration
Enable state encryption for sensitive data
Implement least-privilege IAM policies for providers
Use Vault or similar tools for secret management

Troubleshooting

Provider Plugin Issues

If you encounter provider download issues:

Clear Cache & Reinitialize

# Clear provider cache
rm -rf .terraform/

# Re-initialize
tofu init

State Lock Issues

If state becomes locked:

Force Unlock (Use Cautiously)

tofu force-unlock <lock-id>

Resource Drift Detection

Check for manual changes outside of OpenTofu:

Detect Drift

tofu plan -refresh-only

Setup Complete!

OpenTofu provides a powerful, open-source solution for infrastructure as code on your RamNode VPS. Whether you're managing a single server or orchestrating complex multi-cloud deployments, OpenTofu offers the flexibility and reliability needed for modern infrastructure management.

Key Takeaways:

OpenTofu is a production-ready Terraform alternative with full compatibility
Declarative configuration enables version-controlled infrastructure
Remote state management supports team collaboration
Provider ecosystem covers virtually all cloud platforms and services

OpenTofu Documentation →

Deploying OpenTofu on RamNode VPS

📋 Guide Contents