Spinnaker vs Terraform

Spinnaker is a free, open-source, self-hosted multi-cloud continuous delivery platform for releasing software changes. Its pipelines can run integration and system tests, manage server groups, monitor rollouts, and start from Git, Jenkins, Travis CI, Docker, or CRON events. Built-in blue/green and canary strategies are available, and teams can define custom strategies. Documented providers include AWS, Azure, Cloud Foundry, Google Compute Engine, Kubernetes, Oracle Cloud, and App Engine. At least one provider must be enabled and configured before applications can be deployed. CI integrations include Jenkins, Travis, AWS CodeBuild, Concourse, Google CodeBuild, and Artifactory; source integrations include GitHub, Bitbucket Server/Stash, and GitLab. Authentication supports OAuth 2.0, SAML, or LDAP, while authorization can use groups or team-based role providers. SSL secures UI and API communication. Kubernetes is the recommended installation route, with local Debian packages documented for smaller deployments. The local guide recommends at least four cores and 16GB RAM and warns that single-machine installations may have downtime.

Terraform is an infrastructure-as-code tool for defining, provisioning, and managing cloud and on-premises resources through human-readable configuration files. Its core process is to write a configuration, review an execution plan, then apply approved changes. Providers connect Terraform to services through APIs, and the Terraform Registry lists providers for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, GitHub, and Splunk. Modules package reusable infrastructure configurations that users can find or publish in the Registry. The free Community Edition is a downloadable command-line tool. HCP Terraform adds remote execution, repository connections to GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket that can trigger plans after changes, and an API. It stores state remotely with encryption at rest and offers workspaces, single sign-on, and role-based access controls. HCP Terraform and Terraform Enterprise support Sentinel policies. HashiCorp cautions that policy-as-code is a guardrail, not a security boundary, and trusted providers and modules matter because they can access workspace variables and state. Downloads are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.