Create initial Terraform Enterprise admin user
After installing, you must create an admin user to use Terraform Enterprise. As an admin user, you can manage the Terraform Enterprise application and run workloads on your Terraform Enterprise Flexible Deployment Options installation.
1. Retrieve initial admin creation token (IACT)
To create your first Terraform Enterprise admin user, you must authenticate your request with the initial admin creation token (IACT). You can only use this token to create an admin user if there are no other users in the system.
The TFE_IACT_TIME_LIMIT setting determines the time limit in which you can retrieve the IACT token. When your application starts, it sets a time limit that controls how long the token is available for either the browser or API. By default, the time limit of the IACT token is 60 minutes.
This means that during the initial 60 minutes after the installation boots, a client can either use the API within the subnet list, or a browser to retrieve their IACT token. You can not access the IACT token after this time limit expires.
You can retrieve the initial admin creation token (IACT) in two ways: using the browser or directly from the container or pod.
With browser
Navigate to https://${TFE_HOSTNAME}/admin/retrieve-iact
in your browser from a workstation within the subnet list. You can access your token on this webpage.
With container or pod
You can retrieve your IACT token directly from the Docker container or Kubernetes pod.
Run the following command to retrieve your IACT token from a Docker container.
Run the following command to retrieve your IACT token from a Kubernetes pod.
2. Create initial admin user
You can create the initial admin user in two ways: using the browser or directly from the container or pod.
With browser
Navigate to https://${TFE_HOSTNAME}/admin/account/new?token=${IACT_TOKEN}
in your browser from a workstation within the subnet list. Follow the prompts to create the admin user.
With container or pod
You can create an initial admin user by making a POST
request to your /admin/initial-admin-user
endpoint. This endpoint requires your IACT token and a JSON document with the username, email address, and password for the admin user you want to create.
Query parameters
These are standard URL query parameters, remember to percent-encode values if your tooling doesn't automatically encode URLs.
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
token | Required. The IACT token retrieved via API or command |
Request body
This POST endpoint requires a JSON object with the following properties as a request payload.
Key path | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
username | string | The username to assign the new user. |
email | string | The email address of the new user. |
password | string | The password of the new user. |
Response body
The POST endpoint returns a JSON object with the following properties.
Key path | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
status | string | Either "created" or "error" . |
token | string | If status is "created" , this contains a TFE user token for the new user. |
error | string | If status is "error" , this contains the reason for the error. |
Sample payload
Sample request
Sample response