Last Updated on August 7, 2025 by Arnav Sharma

To loop over a list in Terraform, you can use a for loop within a resource or module definition, or in any other part of your Terraform code where iteration might be necessary. Here’s a general approach to using a for loop in Terraform:

Example 1: Creating Multiple Azure Virtual Machines

In this example, we’ll create multiple Azure virtual machines (VMs) using for_each. Let’s assume we have a list of other resources like VM names.

locals {
  vm_names = ["vm1", "vm2", "vm3"]
}

resource "azurerm_virtual_machine" "example" {
  for_each = toset(local.vm_names)

  name                  = each.value
  location              = "East US"
  resource_group_name   = azurerm_resource_group.example.name
  network_interface_ids = [azurerm_network_interface.example[each.key].id]
  vm_size               = "Standard_F2"

  # Other necessary configurations...
}

Here, each.value represents each VM name in the list.

Example 2: Creating Multiple Network Interfaces with Different Settings

If you have a list of settings for network interfaces and want to create a distinct network interface for each set of settings:

locals {
  nics_settings = [
    { name = "nic1", ip_configuration_name = "ipconfig1" },
    { name = "nic2", ip_configuration_name = "ipconfig2" },
    { name = "nic3", ip_configuration_name = "ipconfig3" }
  ]
}

resource "azurerm_network_interface" "example" {
  for_each = { for nic in local.nics_settings : nic.name => nic }

  name                = each.value.name
  location            = "East US"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.example.name

  ip_configuration {
    name                          = each.value.ip_configuration_name
    subnet_id                     = azurerm_subnet.example.id
    private_ip_address_allocation = "Dynamic"
    # Other configurations...
  }
}

In this example, each network interface is configured with different settings based on the list of nics_settings.

Example 3: Using count to Create Multiple Storage Accounts

Here, we’ll create a specified number of Azure storage accounts using the count argument:

variable "storage_account_count" {
  description = "Number of storage accounts to create"
  default     = 3
}

resource "azurerm_storage_account" "example" {
  count                    = var.storage_account_count
  name                     = "storageaccount${count.index}"
  resource_group_name      = azurerm_resource_group.example.name
  location                 = "East US"
  account_tier             = "Standard"
  account_replication_type = "LRS"

  # Other configurations...
}

In this case, count.index is used to create a unique name for each storage account.

Note:

• Resource Dependencies: When creating multiple resources that depend on each other (like VMs and their network interfaces), ensure that your configuration accounts for these dependencies.
• State Management: Be mindful of how Terraform manages state. Using for_each with a map or a set can make your infrastructure more resilient to changes in the list, as opposed to using count, which relies on the order of the list.
• Azure Provider Version: Ensure that you are using a compatible version of the Azure provider for Terraform, as some features and resources depend on the provider version.