# atmos terraform generate

Use these commands to generate Terraform configuration files including backend configurations and variable files for Atmos components and stacks.

**Backend Configuration**

Learn how to configure Terraform backends for state management in Atmos.

Configuration Reference[Read more](/stacks/components/provision/backend)

## Usage

```shell
atmos terraform generate <subcommand> [options]
```

## Subcommands

## Overview

The `generate` commands help you create Terraform configuration files without running Terraform directly. This is useful for:

- **CI/CD pipelines** - Pre-generate configuration files for review or caching
- **Debugging** - Inspect the generated backend and variable configurations
- **Bulk operations** - Generate files for all components across all stacks

## Examples

### Generate Backend Config

Generate a backend configuration file for a single component:

```shell
atmos terraform generate backend vpc -s dev-us-east-1
```

### Generate All Backends

Generate backend configuration files for all components in all stacks:

```shell
atmos terraform generate backends
```

### Generate Variable File

Generate a `.tfvar.json` file for a component:

```shell
atmos terraform generate varfile vpc -s dev-us-east-1
```

### Generate All Variable Files

Generate variable files for all components in all stacks:

```shell
atmos terraform generate varfiles
```

### Generate Plan File

Generate and convert a Terraform plan to JSON or YAML:

```shell
atmos terraform generate planfile vpc -s dev-us-east-1 --format=json
```

## Common Flags

- **`--stack` / `-s`**
  Atmos stack name (required for single-component commands).
- **`--dry-run`**
  Show what would be generated without writing files.
- **`--process-templates`**
  Enable/disable Go template processing (default: enabled).
- **`--process-functions`**
  Enable/disable YAML function processing (default: enabled).

## See Also

- [Backend Provisioning](/stacks/components/provision/backend) - Configure Terraform backends
- [Stack Configuration](/learn/stacks) - Learn about Atmos stacks
- [`atmos terraform plan`](/cli/commands/terraform/plan) - Run Terraform plan