Plugin executables are looked up via $PATH

[alekstorm]

Currently, the terraform executable finds its plugin executables (e.g. terraform-provider-aws) via the PATH variable on *nix, which results in surprising behavior when the user is trying to run a terraform executable in a non-standard location. I think terraform should first look for the plugins next to it in its current directory before resorting to PATH.

[mattsoftware]

I disagree with this request. Let unix work the way unix does and if you prefer the executable to search the directory of terraform, then add that to the path and your good to go. No need to make the executable more complicated when all the necessary tools are already at your disposal.

export PATH=$(dirname $(which terraform)):$PATH

is all you need if you want to ensure that the dirrectory that terraform is in is searched first in your path. Or of course you can hardcode it in your .profile or wherever.

[alekstorm]

I see your point - using both same-directory and $PATH lookup strategies would be even more confusing. Therefore, I think plugin executables should only be looked for in terraform's directory, and $PATH should not be consulted at all.

[mitchellh]

Hm. We've been using the PATH then same directory approach for some time in Packer without issue (and Terraform inherits that codebase for plugins). But I think I agree with @alekstorm that we should look in the same directory first.

For reference:

terraform/config.go

Line 182 in 1244bff

path, err := exec.LookPath(path)

[c4milo]

Is Terraform currently loading .terraformrc? I can't seem to find the code that invokes LoadConfig(path string)

[c4milo]

FYI @mitchellh, I just ported packer code in terraform to load ~/.terraformrc. I will be sending a PR soon for you to review.

[mitchellh]

Fixed. I also made it so that the directory and PATH are only looked up if the executable contains a path separator. This allows for absolute paths without wasting time.