February 2019 Summaries

The Terraform community is invited to try the first beta release of Terraform 0.12, which includes major language improvements and a tool for automatically upgrading existing configurations. This pre-release build may still contain bugs and should not be used against production infrastructure. Users are encouraged to provide feedback and report any issues they encounter, with detailed information, on GitHub's Bug Report platform. Provider releases for v0.12 compatibility are ongoing, but some providers may not be yet compatible, requiring users to install development snapshots as third-party providers until official support is available in future beta releases.

Linode is a cloud hosting provider that enables organizations to create high performance SSD Linux servers on demand and offers hosting services in nine datacenters across the globe, allowing users to use its Terraform provider to manage Linode services as part of their normal workflow. SkyTap, a Seattle-based cloud provider, offers a platform with various services and hosting capabilities in seven regions globally, which can be configured using the SkyTap Terraform provider. UCloud, a Chinese-based cloud provider, offers hosting, networking, and deployment services worldwide across 29 datacenters, allowing users to incorporate its services into their Terraform workflows with the UCloud Terraform provider. Hedvig, a California-based software company, offers a platform designed to modernize infrastructure storage capabilities, which can be accessed using the Hedvig Terraform provider.

Vault 1.0 has introduced cloud auto unseal in its open source version, allowing users to automatically unlock their data without the need for manual intervention. This feature was previously only available to Enterprise customers and requires migration from manual unseal. Auto unseal uses a trusted device or service to securely store and decrypt the master key, eliminating the complexity of multiple operators providing parts of the shared key. To enable cloud-based auto unseal, users must set up a Key Management System (KMS) on a supported cloud provider and configure Vault accordingly. The migration process involves taking the cluster offline, updating the seal configuration, bringing it back online, and running an unseal process with the `-migrate` flag to complete the transition.

HashiCorp has announced the formation of a professional services program for enterprise customers, allowing them to purchase additional services as part of their agreements. The company's goal is to help simplify and accelerate adoption of its solutions, particularly in implementation phases. To achieve this, HashiCorp has enlisted partner consultants to join its "virtual consulting bench" who will deliver services under the guidance of HashiCorp. The program offers FastTrack Implementation Packages for Terraform Enterprise and Vault Enterprise, covering installation, authentication, and integration tasks. These services are initially available to customers in specific regions and can be purchased through HashiCorp directly or through partner companies.