What steps are essential for provisioning new infrastructure in Terraform?

Provisioning new infrastructure in Terraform requires a systematic approach to ensure the environment is set up correctly and as intended. The steps involved in this process include initializing the Terraform project and applying the configuration to create the infrastructure.

Initializing the Terraform project using "init" sets up the working directory containing your Terraform configuration files. This command downloads the necessary provider plugins that Terraform requires to interact with the various cloud services and prepares the back-end for state management. It is a fundamental step that must be completed before any interaction with the actual cloud infrastructure can occur.

After initialization, "apply" is the command used to execute the changes defined in the configuration files. This action instructs Terraform to create or modify infrastructure resources as per the defined state in the configuration. After making changes, it can prompt you to confirm before proceeding, ensuring that the intended actions are clear before they affect the infrastructure.

Together, these steps form the foundation for successfully provisioning infrastructure with Terraform, as they encompass both preparation and execution of the intended changes.