Introducing Overmind CLI v1.0.0

We are excited to introduce v1.0.0, a powerful update to our Overmind CLI that allows real-time impact analysis on Terraform changes made locally or in CI. This release focuses on making your infrastructure management more straightforward and effective, providing valuable insights into potential risks associated with your Terraform changes.

With the new CLI you can identify the blast radius and uncover potential risks with `overmind terrafrom plan` before they harm your infrastructure, allowing anyone to make changes with confidence. We also track the impacts of the changes you make with `overmind teraform apply`, so that you can be sure that your changes haven't had any unexpected downstream impact.

Why use Overmind CLI?

While terraform plan is a powerful tool for managing Terraform deployments, it comes with several limitations that can impact its effectiveness in complex or large-scale environments. The Overmind CLI is designed to address these challenges, providing enhanced capabilities and insights for your infrastructure management. Here’s how Overmind CLI tackles some of the common issues associated with terraform plan:

1. Complex Dependencies

In environments with intricate dependencies, terraform plan can struggle to correctly predict changes, especially when dealing with resources that have implicit dependencies. This can lead to unexpected outcomes and deployment failures.

How Overmind CLI Solves It‍

When you run overmind terraform plan, it not only plans the changes but also discovers and visualises all dependencies in real-time. It does this by querying the AWS in real-time. This comprehensive mapping ensures that you have a clear understanding of how changes will impact your environment, reducing the likelihood of missed dependencies and errors, even on a Friday!

2. Drift Detection

While terraform plan can detect drift—differences between the current state and the desired state—it relies on the state file being up-to-date. If changes are made directly in the cloud outside of Terraform i.e in the AWS console manually, these drifts may not be detected immediately, leading to discrepancies and potential issues.

How Overmind CLI Solves It

‍When you run overmind terraform plan, it cross-references the state file with the actual cloud resources, accurately detecting any drift. This ensures that all changes, including those made outside of Terraform, are identified and accounted for, keeping your infrastructure in sync with your configurations.

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Getting Started

To see the impact and potential risks of a Terraform code change you've made locally, run overmind terraform plan from the root of your Terraform project. This command will inspect your checkout, run terraform plan, discover all your existing cloud resources, and create a report of all items that could be impacted by this change. Overmind will also provide an automated assessment of deployment risks. At no point will credentials or sensitive values be uploaded to Overmind systems.

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Example Session

Applying Changes

When running overmind terraform apply, Overmind will strive to replicate the user experience of running terraform apply. It will generate a plan file but will not show this to the user. If the user specifies -file, Overmind will link the apply to an existing change rather than creating a new one. The yes/no decision will be made after the risks have been calculated.

For users running with -auto-approve, Overmind will skip the risk calculation step.

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Installation

Ready to start using the Overmind CLI? Follow these straightforward steps:

MacOS Installation:

brew install overmindtech/overmind/overmind-cli

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For other platforms, check out our detailed installation guide.

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Join the Community

We’re committed to continually improving the Overmind CLI to meet your evolving needs. Dive into the Overmind community and connect with like-minded individuals who share your passion for infrastructure management. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started, our community is here to support you every step of the way. Join us on Discord and participate in the conversation!

Happy Terraforming!

The Overmind Team

*P.S Bonus meme if you made it to the end...

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