Troubleshooting AWS credentials for Terraform S3 backend setup

Backend
1

I’m having trouble setting up an S3 backend for my Terraform project on AWS. When I run terraform init, it’s not recognizing my AWS credentials. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

  1. Added this to my main.tf:
terraform {
  backend "remote_storage" {}
}

  1. Set up my access_key and secret_key as variables in a separate file.

  2. Ran terraform init with the bucket name, key, and region.

But I’m getting an error saying it can’t find valid AWS credentials. It’s not even asking me for the access key or secret key during initialization.

Any ideas on what I might be missing or how to fix this? I’m pretty new to Terraform and AWS, so I’m not sure if I’ve missed a step somewhere in the setup process. Thanks for any help!

2

yo iris, double-check ur terraform version. older ones might not support the ‘remote_storage’ backend type. try using ‘s3’ instead. also, make sure ur aws creds are in the right spot - ~/.aws/credentials or as env vars. if all else fails, try running terraform with -debug flag to see whats goin on behind the scenes. good luck!

3

hey there! have u tried checking ur AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables? sometimes they override other credential sources. also, whats ur AWS credential file look like? maybe theres a typo or smth? just curious, what made u choose S3 for ur backend? ive been thinking about using it too!

4

It looks like you’re encountering a common issue with AWS credential configuration. First, ensure your AWS CLI is properly configured with ‘aws configure’. This sets up your credentials in ~/.aws/credentials.

Next, check your backend configuration. The correct syntax is ‘backend “s3”’, not ‘remote_storage’. Also, include the bucket and key parameters directly in the backend block:

terraform {
backend “s3” {
bucket = “your-bucket-name”
key = “path/to/your/terraform.tfstate”
region = “your-region”
}
}

If you’re using a non-default AWS profile, specify it with the ‘profile’ parameter in the backend config or set the AWS_PROFILE environment variable.

Lastly, verify your IAM permissions. Ensure your user has the necessary S3 access rights for the specified bucket. These steps should resolve your credential recognition issue.