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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/mcamacho97/terraform-mean-stack-aws/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

All configuration for the MEAN stack deployment is driven through input variables defined in variables.tf. None of the variables carry default values — every setting must be explicitly provided, which ensures that deployments are intentional and environment-specific. At runtime, Terraform reads your values from a terraform.tfvars file that you create locally; a separate backend.hcl file supplies the S3 remote state configuration. Both files are gitignored to keep secrets and environment-specific values out of version control.
This project requires Terraform >= 1.12. Check your installed version with terraform version before proceeding.

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Configuration Files

Before running any Terraform commands, create your local variable files from the provided example: 
cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
FilePurposeCommitted?
terraform.tfvarsYour variable values for the deployment❌ gitignored
backend.hclS3 backend configuration (bucket, key, region)❌ gitignored
terraform.tfvars and backend.hcl are gitignored. Never commit these files — they contain environment-specific and sensitive values such as your SSH IP address.

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Project Identity

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project_name
string
required
Project name used as a prefix for all AWS resource names. The value is interpolated into every resource name via locals.tf — for example, a project name of "terraform-mean" produces resources such as terraform-mean-vpc, terraform-mean-alb, terraform-mean-node-1, and terraform-mean-mongodb.
project_name = "terraform-mean"
​
environment
string
required
Deployment environment label. Applied as the Environment tag on all resources and used to distinguish between parallel deployments in the same AWS account.Accepted values: lab, dev, qa, prod
environment = "lab"
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aws_region
string
required
AWS region where all infrastructure will be provisioned. The availability zone variables must correspond to zones within this region.
aws_region = "us-east-1"

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Network Configuration

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vpc_cidr
string
required
CIDR block for the VPC. All subnets must fall within this address space. The recommended /16 block provides 65,536 addresses with room for future subnet expansion.
vpc_cidr = "10.0.0.0/16"
​
public_subnet_1_cidr
string
required
CIDR block for Public Subnet A. This subnet is placed in availability_zone_1 and hosts Node.js Server 1. Instances here receive public IP addresses.
public_subnet_1_cidr = "10.0.1.0/24"
​
public_subnet_2_cidr
string
required
CIDR block for Public Subnet B. This subnet is placed in availability_zone_2 and hosts Node.js Server 2. A second public subnet in a separate AZ enables multi-AZ ALB target registration.
public_subnet_2_cidr = "10.0.2.0/24"
​
private_subnet_cidr
string
required
CIDR block for the Private Subnet that hosts the MongoDB instance. Resources in this subnet have no direct public internet access — outbound traffic is routed through the NAT Gateway.
private_subnet_cidr = "10.0.3.0/24"
​
availability_zone_1
string
required
Availability Zone for Public Subnet A and the Private Subnet (MongoDB). Both Node 1 and MongoDB land in this AZ, minimising cross-AZ traffic between the application tier and the database tier.
availability_zone_1 = "us-east-1a"
​
availability_zone_2
string
required
Availability Zone for Public Subnet B. Node.js Server 2 is deployed here, distributing the compute tier across two AZs for resilience behind the ALB.
availability_zone_2 = "us-east-1b"

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Compute

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instance_type
string
required
EC2 instance type applied to all three instances — Node 1, Node 2, and MongoDB. Using the same type across all instances simplifies cost estimation and capacity planning.
t2.micro is free-tier eligible (750 hours/month per account) and is the recommended value for lab and dev environments.
instance_type = "t2.micro"
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node_instance_count
number
required
Number of Node.js application instances to provision. The default example value is 2, which matches the two public subnets and provides basic redundancy behind the ALB. Adjusting this value beyond 2 requires corresponding subnet and AZ additions to the network configuration.
node_instance_count = 2

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Security

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allowed_ssh_ip
string
required
The CIDR block permitted to connect via SSH to the Node.js instances. This value is written into the security group ingress rule for port 22. You must supply a /32 host address (a single IP), not a range.To find your current public IP:
curl ifconfig.me

allowed_ssh_ip = "203.0.113.42/32"
Never set this to 0.0.0.0/0. Exposing SSH to the public internet makes your instances an immediate target for brute-force attacks.

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Complete Example File

The following is the full terraform.tfvars.example provided in the repository. Copy it to terraform.tfvars and replace the placeholder values before running terraform apply. 
project_name         = "terraform-mean"
environment          = "lab"
aws_region           = "us-east-1"

vpc_cidr             = "10.0.0.0/16"
public_subnet_1_cidr = "10.0.1.0/24"
public_subnet_2_cidr = "10.0.2.0/24"
private_subnet_cidr  = "10.0.3.0/24"

availability_zone_1  = "us-east-1a"
availability_zone_2  = "us-east-1b"

instance_type        = "t2.micro"
node_instance_count  = 2

allowed_ssh_ip       = "YOUR_PUBLIC_IP/32"

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Common Tags

All AWS resources created by this project are tagged automatically via locals.tf. The common_tags local is passed to every module, so you can filter and identify resources in the AWS Console, Cost Explorer, and CloudTrail without manual tagging.
Tag KeyValue
ProjectValue of var.project_name
EnvironmentValue of var.environment
ManagedBy"Terraform"
These tags are defined in locals.tf alongside the names map that constructs every resource name from var.project_name: 
locals {
  common_tags = {
    Project     = var.project_name
    Environment = var.environment
    ManagedBy   = "Terraform"
  }

  names = {
    vpc     = "${var.project_name}-vpc"
    alb     = "${var.project_name}-alb"
    node1   = "${var.project_name}-node-1"
    node2   = "${var.project_name}-node-2"
    mongodb = "${var.project_name}-mongodb"
    igw     = "${var.project_name}-igw"
    nat     = "${var.project_name}-nat"
    keypair = "${var.project_name}-key"
  }
}

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