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Documentation Index

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After terraform apply completes, Terraform prints all output values to your terminal and stores them in the remote state file. These outputs surface the connection details and identifiers you need to access your application, SSH into servers, and integrate the deployment with other tooling. You can retrieve any output value at any time without re-running apply.

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Accessing Outputs

Print all outputs to the terminal: 
terraform output
Get a single output value: 
terraform output alb_dns_name
Get a raw value (no surrounding quotes — useful in shell scripts and command substitutions): 
terraform output -raw alb_dns_name
Get all outputs as machine-readable JSON: 
terraform output -json

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Output Reference

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Network

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vpc_id
string
The AWS-assigned ID of the provisioned VPC (e.g. vpc-0abc123def456789). Use this value when referencing the VPC in other Terraform workspaces or in the AWS console.

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Node 1

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node_1_public_ip
string
Public IPv4 address of Node.js Server 1, located in Public Subnet A. Used for direct SSH access.
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node_1_private_ip
string
Private IPv4 address of Node.js Server 1 within the VPC (e.g. 10.0.1.x). Used for internal service-to-service communication.

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Node 2

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node_2_public_ip
string
Public IPv4 address of Node.js Server 2, located in Public Subnet B. Used for direct SSH access.
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node_2_private_ip
string
Private IPv4 address of Node.js Server 2 within the VPC (e.g. 10.0.2.x). Used for internal service-to-service communication.

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MongoDB

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mongodb_private_ip
string
Private IPv4 address of the MongoDB instance (e.g. 10.0.3.x). MongoDB is deployed in the private subnet and has no public IP address — it is not directly reachable from the internet.

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Load Balancer

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alb_dns_name
string
DNS hostname of the Application Load Balancer (e.g. terraform-mean-alb-1234567890.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com). This is the primary entry point for all HTTP traffic to your application. Share this address rather than the individual EC2 IPs.

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NAT Gateway

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nat_gateway_public_ip
string
Elastic IP address associated with the NAT Gateway. Outbound internet traffic from the MongoDB instance in the private subnet exits AWS through this IP. Useful for whitelisting in third-party services or firewalls.

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SSH Key

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private_key_path
string
Local filesystem path to the generated RSA private key file (e.g. keys/terraform-mean.pem). This file is created by the local provider during apply. Guard it carefully — it grants SSH access to all EC2 instances in the deployment.

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Using the Outputs

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Access the Application

Hit the root endpoint through the load balancer to confirm the application is serving traffic: 
curl http://$(terraform output -raw alb_dns_name)/
Expected JSON response: 
{
  "application": "Terraform MEAN Stack",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "hostname": "ip-10-0-1-x",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T12:00:00.000Z"
}

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SSH into Node 1

ssh -i $(terraform output -raw private_key_path) ubuntu@$(terraform output -raw node_1_public_ip)

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SSH into Node 2

ssh -i $(terraform output -raw private_key_path) ubuntu@$(terraform output -raw node_2_public_ip)

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Connect to MongoDB via SSH Tunnel

MongoDB has no public IP, so connect through one of the Node.js servers as a jump host. The following command opens a local tunnel on port 27017 that forwards to the MongoDB private IP: 
ssh -i $(terraform output -raw private_key_path) \
  -L 27017:$(terraform output -raw mongodb_private_ip):27017 \
  ubuntu@$(terraform output -raw node_1_public_ip) \
  -N
With the tunnel open, connect from your local machine using any MongoDB client: 
mongosh "mongodb://localhost:27017"
MongoDB has no public IP address and cannot be reached directly from the internet. All database access must route through one of the Node.js EC2 instances (via SSH tunnel as shown above) or through AWS Systems Manager Session Manager if the SSM agent is configured on the MongoDB instance.

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