Devops on Omar H.Ajmi | Python, Java, Terraform & DevOps TILs

Terraform Tests Without an AWS Bill: Mocking Providers

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You changed a Terraform variable, refactored a module, and want to make sure the configuration still does what you expect. The usual alternative to trusting your eyes? Apply it and see what happens.

That feedback loop gets expensive when the experiment involves real cloud resources. Fortunately, Terraform has a built-in option for testing configuration logic without provisioning actual infrastructure: mock providers.

The idea: replace the real provider

Terraform’s native testing framework supports provider mocking starting with Terraform 1.7.0. A mock provider simulates provider behavior, allowing tests to run without cloud credentials or real infrastructure. Official documentation

🏃 GitLab CI: cache is not an artifact

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

🏃 GitLab CI: cache is not an artifact

You made your pipeline faster with caching. Beautiful.

Then another job needs a compiled file, the cache doesn’t contain it, and suddenly your pipeline is doing interpretive dance.

Let’s separate two jobs that look similar but aren’t.

🍱 Terraform state: the file you shouldn't casually commit

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

🍱 Terraform state: the file you shouldn’t casually commit

You avoided hardcoding a password in Terraform. Nice. You added sensitive = true. Even nicer.

So the secret is safe now, right?

Well… not necessarily. 😬

🧠 The principle

Terraform state tracks managed infrastructure and can contain resource attributes and sensitive values. Terraform plan files can also contain sensitive data.

🚀 GitLab CI/CD: Stop Waiting for Jobs You Don't Need

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

🚀 GitLab CI/CD: Stop Waiting for Jobs You Don’t Need

Your application builds in two minutes. Unit tests take three. A static analysis job takes another four.

Unfortunately, your deployment doesn’t need to wait for all three jobs to finish. It only needs the build and tests.

🔀 GitLab CI/CD: Jobs Have Rules, Pipelines Have Rules Too

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

🔀 GitLab CI/CD: Jobs Have Rules, Pipelines Have Rules Too

You push a commit, open a merge request, and suddenly GitLab is running two pipelines for what feels like the same change.

Congratulations: you’ve discovered a surprisingly common CI/CD configuration headache.

The problem might be the difference between rules and workflow:rules. They look similar, but they operate at different levels.

🎛️ GitLab CI/CD: Inputs Are Typed Parameters, Variables Are Not

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

🎛️ GitLab CI/CD: Inputs Are Typed Parameters, Variables Are Not

You wrote a reusable CI template. Teams customize it with variables, a typo in a variable name silently falls back to nothing, and the failure shows up twenty minutes later in a job log.