Frequently Asked Questions

Deployment

Q: How long does deployment take?

Typically 8–15 minutes. The majority of the time is spent on: VM boot (1–2 min), DBaaS provisioning (3–5 min for MySQL), package installation and application bootstrap via cloud-init (3–8 min).

Q: The apply completed but the application is not accessible yet. Why?

Terraform finishes when the VM and all resources are created. The cloud-init bootstrap continues running inside the VM after Terraform exits. Wait 3–5 minutes and retry. You can follow progress by SSH-ing into the VM and running:

sudo tail -f /var/log/cloud-init-output.log

Q: I see "One or more validation errors" from the provider.

Enable debug logging to see the full API error:

TF_LOG=DEBUG terraform apply 2>&1 | grep -A5 "error"

Common causes: resource name already exists from a previous failed run, Elastic IP quota exceeded, or missing project permissions.

Q: How do I get the application password after deployment?

Run terraform output. Sensitive values are redacted in the terminal; retrieve them with:

terraform output -raw admin_password

Networking

Q: Can I use a custom domain with HTTPS?

Yes — set the domain variable to your domain name (e.g. blog.example.com) and point an A record to the VM's Elastic IP before running terraform apply. Certbot will issue a Let's Encrypt certificate automatically during cloud-init.

Q: MySQL says "Error establishing a database connection".

1. The DBaaS may still be starting when cloud-init runs. The bootstrap script waits up to 15 minutes; if that's not enough, SSH in and re-run the failed step.
2. Check that the arubacloud_databasegrant resource was created successfully — without a grant, MySQL rejects the user even with a correct password.
3. Verify the DBaaS security rule allows TCP 3306 from the VM's Elastic IP.

Costs

Q: Will I be charged if I run terraform destroy?

You will be charged for the time the resources were running. After terraform destroy completes, all resources are deleted and billing stops.

Q: Are Elastic IPs billed when not attached to a VM?

Yes. terraform destroy always releases Elastic IPs. Do not remove individual resources from state without destroying them.

Customization

Q: Can I change the VM size after deployment?

Update the vm_flavor variable and run terraform apply. Whether this requires a replacement depends on the provider's update behavior for the flavor attribute — check the plan output first.

Q: Can I add more VMs to share the same DBaaS?

Yes — you can add more arubacloud_cloudserver resources that connect to the same arubacloud_dbaas. Use a load balancer (e.g. the Traefik example) in front.