Cloud on marktaguiad.dev

Create GKE Cluster with Terraform/Opentofu 0x03

marktaguiad@marktaguiad.dev (Mark Taguiad) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 3 of this post

To make this really modular let’s create environemnt for Dev and Prod.

Let’s assign standard gke to dev and autopilot gke to prod.

This approach keeps our infrastructure:

consistent
reusable
environment-aware
easy to scale

Providers

This is present in both environment.

provider.tf

 1terraform {
 2  required_providers {
 3    google = {
 4      source  = "hashicorp/google"
 5      version = "7.26.0"
 6    }
 7    kubernetes = {
 8      source  = "hashicorp/kubernetes"
 9      version = "~> 2.0"
10    }
11
12    helm = {
13      source  = "hashicorp/helm"
14      version = "~> 2.10" # or latest
15    }
16  }
17}
18
19provider "google" {
20  credentials = file(var.credentials_file)
21  project = var.project_id
22  region  = var.region
23}
24
25data "google_client_config" "default" {}
26
27provider "kubernetes" {
28  host  = "https://${module.gke.endpoint}"
29  token = data.google_client_config.default.access_token
30
31  cluster_ca_certificate = base64decode(
32    module.gke.ca_certificate
33  )
34}
35
36provider "helm" {
37  kubernetes {
38    host  = "https://${module.gke.endpoint}"
39
40    token = data.google_client_config.default.access_token
41
42    cluster_ca_certificate = base64decode(
43      module.gke.ca_certificate
44    )
45  }
46}

Development Environment

The dev environment is designed for flexibility and cost efficiency.

Create GKE Cluster with Terraform/Opentofu 0x02

marktaguiad@marktaguiad.dev (Mark Taguiad) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 20:10:15 +0800

Part 2 of this post

GKE Module

This module is where everything comes together—network, IAM, and node pools—to create a working GKE cluster.

Standard vs Autopilot

Feature	Standard	Autopilot
Node control	Full	None
Scaling	Manual + autoscaler	Fully managed
Operations	You manage	Google manages
Flexibility	High	Limited

Standard

Gives you full control over nodes and scaling.

Create GKE Cluster with Terraform/Opentofu 0x01

marktaguiad@marktaguiad.dev (Mark Taguiad) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Still a not-so comprehensive guide to create GKE Cluster with Terraform/Opentofu.

Visit the previous post before proceeding with this one.

Repo for this post: g-ulap-demo.

Overview

This topic is quite big and not a single blog or post would answer all your question. I advice you to read on documentations and blog posts. This post would be too long if I explain every details.

Terraform/Opentofu VM Provisioning in Google Cloud Platform

marktaguiad@marktaguiad.dev (Mark Taguiad) — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A not-so-comprehensive guide to provisioning a VM in Google Cloud Platform—because my bank account has… boundaries.

Cloud can get expensive real fast. If you’re using your company’s account, go wild. Live your best cloud life. Spin up instances like there’s no tomorrow.

But if you’re like me—personally funding this adventure—then welcome. We’ll be keeping things practical, efficient, and, most importantly, affordable.

For now, I’ll cover the basics and the stuff that actually matters. I’ll update this guide if I ever stumble upon a pot of gold.

Cloud on marktaguiad.dev

Create GKE Cluster with Terraform/Opentofu 0x03

Table of Contents

Providers

Development Environment

Create GKE Cluster with Terraform/Opentofu 0x02

Table of Contents

GKE Module

Standard vs Autopilot

Standard

Create GKE Cluster with Terraform/Opentofu 0x01

Table of Contents

Overview

Terraform/Opentofu VM Provisioning in Google Cloud Platform