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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Find answers to common questions about InfraKitchen.

🏢 General Questions

What is InfraKitchen?

InfraKitchen is a self-service infrastructure provisioning platform that enables developers to create and manage cloud resources without deep knowledge of Infrastructure-as-Code tools. Platform engineers define reusable templates, and developers use them through a guided interface.

How is InfraKitchen different from Terraform/OpenTofu?

InfraKitchen Terraform/OpenTofu
GUI-based workflow CLI-based
Dynamic forms for variables Manual variable files
Built-in state management Manual backend configuration
Audit logs and history Limited tracking
Template catalog Module registry
Pull request automation Manual Git workflows
RBAC and approvals No built-in access control

Think of InfraKitchen as a layer on top of Terraform/OpenTofu that makes it more accessible and manageable.

Who should use InfraKitchen?

Platform Engineers:

  • Define infrastructure standards
  • Create reusable templates
  • Manage cloud integrations
  • Enforce governance and compliance

Developers:

  • Provision infrastructure on-demand
  • Update resources safely
  • View infrastructure outputs
  • No IaC expertise required

DevOps Teams:

  • Audit infrastructure changes
  • Review pull requests
  • Monitor provisioning operations
  • Manage resource lifecycle

What cloud providers does InfraKitchen support?

Currently supported:

  • ✅ Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • ✅ Microsoft Azure
  • ✅ Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
  • ✅ MongoDB Atlas
  • ✅ Datadog

Infrastructure as Code support:

  • ✅ OpenTofu

Is InfraKitchen open source?

Yes! InfraKitchen is licensed under Apache 2.0. You can find the source code on GitHub.

Can I use InfraKitchen with existing Terraform modules?

Absolutely! InfraKitchen works with standard Terraform/OpenTofu modules. Simply register your Git repository containing modules, and InfraKitchen will automatically analyze variables and outputs.

🔧 Technical Questions

How does InfraKitchen store Terraform state?

InfraKitchen supports standard Terraform backend configurations:

  • AWS S3 with DynamoDB locking
  • Azure Storage with blob storage
  • GCP Storage with GCS buckets

State files are stored in your configured backend, not in InfraKitchen itself. This ensures compatibility with existing Terraform workflows.

Can I import existing infrastructure into InfraKitchen?

Yes, but with some manual steps:

  1. Create a resource in InfraKitchen with matching configuration
  2. Use Terraform import to import existing infrastructure into the state
  3. Run a dry run to verify configuration matches

Best Practice

It's easier to start fresh with new infrastructure. Only import existing resources if absolutely necessary.

How does variable inheritance work?

Child resources can automatically reference parent resource outputs:

YAML
# Parent VPC outputs
vpc_id: vpc-abc123
subnet_ids: [subnet-111, subnet-222]

# Child RDS resource automatically gets
vpc_id: vpc-abc123 (from parent VPC)
subnet_ids: [subnet-111, subnet-222] (from parent VPC)

This is configured in the Source Code Version variable configurations.

What happens if provisioning fails?

  1. Resource state remains provision
  2. Status changes to error
  3. Error details are logged
  4. You can review logs to diagnose the issue
  5. Fix the problem (update variables, fix integration, etc.)
  6. Click Retry to attempt again

Can I run InfraKitchen commands from CLI?

InfraKitchen primarily uses a web UI. However, you can:

  • Use the REST API for automation
  • Integrate with CI/CD pipelines
  • Use the MCP Server for AI agent integration
  • Access generated code in workspace repositories

How are credentials secured?

InfraKitchen uses multiple security layers:

  • At Rest: Credentials encrypted in database
  • In Transit: HTTPS/TLS for all communications
  • In Memory: Credentials only decrypted when needed
  • Access Control: RBAC limits who can view/use integrations
  • Audit: All credential access is logged

Does InfraKitchen support drift detection?

Not currently. Drift detection between InfraKitchen resources and actual cloud state is on the roadmap. For now:

  • Use cloud provider drift detection tools
  • Run dry runs to see planned changes
  • Review execution logs for unexpected modifications

🚀 Usage Questions

How do I know which template to use?

  1. Check template description - Explains what it does
  2. View parent/child relationships - Understand dependencies
  3. Look at existing resources - See how others used it
  4. Ask your platform team - They defined the templates
  5. Read documentation - Check internal wiki or docs

Why can't I change certain variables?

Some variables are marked as "frozen" or "immutable" because:

  • The underlying cloud resource cannot be modified in-place
  • Changing them would require resource recreation
  • They're inherited from parent resources
  • Platform team locked them for compliance

Examples: VPC CIDR blocks, RDS engine type, storage account name

What's the difference between State and Status?

State represents the resource lifecycle:

  • provision - Not yet created
  • provisioned - Created and running
  • destroy - Marked for deletion
  • destroyed - Removed

Status represents the current operation:

  • ready - Ready for action
  • in_progress - Currently executing
  • done - Operation completed
  • error - Operation failed

How long does provisioning take?

It varies by resource type:

Resource Type Typical Time
S3 Bucket 30 seconds
VPC 1-2 minutes
Lambda Function 1-2 minutes
RDS Database 10-20 minutes
EKS Cluster 15-30 minutes
Azure AKS 10-20 minutes

Large resources with many components take longer.

Can I provision multiple resources simultaneously?

Yes! InfraKitchen processes resources in parallel when possible. However:

  • Parent resources must complete before children
  • Dependent resources wait for their dependencies
  • Each resource runs in an isolated environment

Why is my resource waiting for approval?

Your organization may have approval workflows enabled:

  • Production resources - Require senior engineer approval
  • Costly resources - Need budget owner approval
  • Security-sensitive - Need security team review

Check with your platform team about approval policies.

How do I rollback a failed update?

InfraKitchen doesn't have automatic rollback, but you can:

  1. Edit resource variables back to previous values
  2. Perform dry run to verify changes
  3. Apply the update

For critical situations:

  • Use cloud provider console to manual rollback
  • Destroy and recreate resource
  • Restore from backup (for stateful resources)

🔀 Workspace Questions

What is a Workspace?

A Workspace is a Git repository where InfraKitchen syncs generated infrastructure code for your resources.

Why use Workspaces?

Benefits:

  • Review - Team reviews infrastructure changes
  • Audit - Git history tracks all modifications
  • Backup - Code stored in version control
  • Portability - Can run Terraform outside InfraKitchen
  • CI/CD - Integrate with existing pipelines

Do I need to approve Pull Requests?

It depends on your workflow:

Manual Approval:

  • Review PR in Git provider
  • Approve and merge manually

Auto-Approval:

  • Click "Approve" in InfraKitchen
  • InfraKitchen auto-merges PR
  • Code lands in default branch

No Workspace:

  • Skip PR workflow entirely
  • Code not synced to Git

What if PR conflicts with main branch?

Resolve conflicts:

  1. Navigate to workspace repository
  2. Pull both branches locally
  3. Resolve merge conflicts
  4. Push resolution
  5. Merge PR

Or:

  • Delete the branch and recreate resource
  • This generates a fresh PR

Can I edit workspace code directly?

You can, but be careful:

✅ Safe edits:

  • Update README or documentation
  • Add additional modules
  • Modify resource tags

❌ Dangerous edits:

  • Change variable values (creates drift)
  • Modify backend configuration
  • Remove InfraKitchen-generated files

Risk of Drift

Manual edits to resource code can cause drift between InfraKitchen and actual infrastructure.

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Resource stuck at "in_progress"

Possible causes:

  1. Long-running operation - EKS clusters take 15-20 min
  2. Network timeout - Check connectivity
  3. State lock - Another operation has locked state
  4. Task failure - Check execution logs

Solutions:

  • Wait if it's a long operation
  • Check logs for errors
  • Verify integration credentials
  • Contact platform team if stuck >30 min

"Parent resource not ready" error

Cause: Parent resource is not in provisioned state.

Solutions:

  1. Wait for parent to finish provisioning
  2. Check parent resource status
  3. Ensure parent provisioned successfully
  4. If parent failed, fix and provision it first

Integration authentication fails

Possible causes:

  • Expired credentials
  • Incorrect configuration
  • Insufficient permissions
  • Network connectivity issues

Solutions:

  1. Test integration in InfraKitchen
  2. Verify credentials in cloud provider
  3. Check IAM role/service principal permissions
  4. Review audit logs for detailed errors
  5. Update integration with new credentials

Variables not appearing in form

Cause: Source code version analysis failed or variables not defined in variables.tf.

Solutions:

  1. Verify variables.tf exists in module
  2. Check Terraform syntax is valid
  3. Re-analyze source code version
  4. Check module folder path is correct
  5. Review source code version logs

Dry run shows unexpected changes

Possible causes:

  • Drift between state and actual infrastructure
  • Variables changed since last apply
  • Source code version updated
  • Dependencies changed

Solutions:

  1. Review the plan carefully
  2. Check if changes are intentional
  3. Verify variable values
  4. Consider running refresh-only plan
  5. Contact platform team if unsure

Workspace PR not created

Possible causes:

  • Workspace not configured
  • Git integration lacks permissions
  • Repository doesn't exist
  • Branch already exists
  • API rate limiting

Solutions:

  1. Verify workspace is set on resource
  2. Check Git integration has write access
  3. Ensure repository exists
  4. Delete existing branch if conflict
  5. Check workspace sync logs

"State lock" error

Cause: Another operation is using the Terraform state.

Solutions:

  1. Wait for other operation to complete
  2. Check if another resource is provisioning
  3. Verify no manual Terraform operations running
  4. Force-unlock state (last resort, dangerous)
  5. Contact platform team

🔒 Security Questions

How are secrets managed?

InfraKitchen:

  • Encrypts secrets at rest in database
  • Uses HTTPS/TLS for all communication
  • Never logs sensitive values
  • Masks secrets in UI and logs
  • Supports integration with HashiCorp Vault

Who can see my resources?

Access control is role-based:

  • Creators - Full access to their resources
  • Team members - Access based on team membership
  • Admins - Access to all resources
  • Viewers - Read-only access

Check with your platform team about specific policies.

Can I restrict certain templates?

Yes! Platform engineers can:

  • Disable templates (make unavailable)
  • Set RBAC policies per template
  • Require approvals for certain templates
  • Limit templates to specific teams

Are audit logs available?

Yes! InfraKitchen logs:

  • Resource creation/updates/destruction
  • User actions and timestamps
  • Integration usage
  • Variable changes
  • Approval decisions
  • Workspace sync operations

Logs are searchable and exportable.

💰 Cost Questions

How much does InfraKitchen cost?

InfraKitchen itself is open source and free. You pay for:

  • Cloud infrastructure InfraKitchen provisions
  • Compute resources to run InfraKitchen
  • Storage for Terraform state
  • Git repository hosting (if using private repos)

Can InfraKitchen help reduce costs?

Yes, in several ways:

  • Lifecycle management - Easy to destroy unused resources
  • Templated configurations - Right-sizing enforced by platform team
  • Audit trail - Track resource usage and owners
  • Tag enforcement - Better cost allocation
  • Visibility - See all resources in one place

How do I track resource costs?

  • Use labels to tag resources with cost centers
  • Export resource list with tags
  • Use cloud provider cost allocation tags
  • Set up cloud cost management tools
  • Review resources periodically

🎓 Learning and Support

Where can I learn more?

Can I request features?

Absolutely!

  1. Check GitHub Issues for existing requests
  2. Create a new feature request issue
  3. Discuss in Discord community
  4. Consider contributing the feature yourself

How do I get support?

Community Support:

  • Discord server for quick questions
  • GitHub Issues for bug reports
  • Documentation and guides

Enterprise Support:

  • Contact your platform engineering team
  • Check internal documentation
  • Company-specific support channels

🚦 Limitations and Constraints

What are current limitations?

  • Drift Detection: Not implemented yet
  • Multi-Region: Each region needs separate resources
  • Blueprints: Coming soon
  • Custom Providers: OpenTofu/Terraform only
  • Real-time Collaboration: Single user edits at a time

Supported OpenTofu versions?

  • OpenTofu 1.10+

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