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Use Run Scheduler to automatically kick off runs

The Scalr scheduler automatically kick off runs without the need for manual intervention or scripting.
Ryan FeeJanuary 5, 2022
Use Run Scheduler to automatically kick off runs

We hope everyone had a great holiday season and we wanted to start the new year out with a new feature! Starting today, you can set schedules for your Terraform applies. The scheduler will automatically kick off runs without the need for manual intervention or scripting.

With or without Terraform, there is and always will be a need to schedule the deployment of resources. Whether you need to spin up/down a daily development environment to save costs or have a scheduled maintenance window, timing is key to getting automation right. As Terraform makes the automation and creation of resources even easier, there is even a stronger need now to schedule the automation. Previously, this could have been scripted by calling the API or CLI, but why maintain extra code on top of what you have already done in Terraform.

This is where the Scalr run scheduler comes into play.

The run scheduler is a way to automatically trigger a Terraform apply based on a daily schedule, a weekly set day(s)/time, or by a cron schedule.

The scheduler is easy to use. Just add the schedule to a workspace and the runs will automatically trigger when it is time. If the workspace has auto-approval enabled, the run will automatically apply, if auto-approval is not set the plan will be triggered, but the apply will wait for a manual approval. All schedules are based on the UTC timezone, be sure to take that into account when creating the schedule.

Getting started is easy. The run scheduler is available for everyone! Simply go to one of your workspaces and add the schedule.

See the full documentation here.

About the author
Ryan Feedirector of platform engineering at Scalr
Ryan Fee is the director of platform engineering at Scalr, with over 15 years of experience improving infrastructure experiences at companies large and small.