The killer feature of BigConfig

Sep 1, 2025

For anyone working with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), managing configurations and deployments efficiently is key. Engineers are constantly seeking ways to enhance their workflows. Today, we’re diving into a powerful combination: OpenTofu and BigConfig, highlighting a killer feature that makes your build step practically invisible!

The Challenge of Configuration Management

IaC tools like OpenTofu (an open-source alternative to Terraform) empower teams to define, provision, and manage infrastructure through code. However, as projects scale, especially in complex environments, the build and deployment process can become a multi-step chore. This often involves:

Git checks: Ensuring your working directory is clean and up-to-date.
Lock acquire: Making sure that changes are apply in order and incrementally.
Execution: Iterate on the infracoding until it works.
Git pushes: Committing changes back to your repository if the change is successful
Environment-specific deployments: Handling different configurations for different environments like staging and production.

This manual orchestration can be time-consuming and prone to errors.

Enter BigConfig: Simplifying Complex Workflows

BigConfig is a fantastic tool designed to encapsulate and automate these complex command sequences. It allows you to define a series of steps and execute them with a single command. Think of it as a smart wrapper for your common IaC operations. By centralizing these tasks, BigConfig significantly reduces cognitive load and improves consistency.

The Killer Feature: An Invisible Build Step with a Shell Alias

Here’s where the magic truly happens! By combining OpenTofu, BigConfig, and a simple shell alias, we can create an invisible build step. Imagine replacing a series of manual operations with just one, familiar invocation.

Consider this powerful shell alias:

alias tofu="bb build git-check lock exec git-push unlock-any -- alpha prod tofu"

Let’s break down what this alias does:

alias tofu="...": This redefines your tofu command for the session. Now, whenever you type tofu, it executes BigConfig instead of tofu. Every step of the workflow is executed only if the previous step is successful.
build: This is the BigConfig step to initiate a build process and achieve DRY like Atmos. If this fails, there is not reason to proceed. That’s why this step is always present and it is the first step.
git-check: build should not make the Git working directory dirty and git-check ensures your Git working directory is clean and up to date.
lock: It then acquires a lock for the module alpha and the profile prod, preventing concurrent changes from other developers.
exec: This is the core execution step, where BigConfig will run your OpenTofu commands. In case of failure of exec, the workflow will stop and the next steps will not be executed. In particular the lock will not be released and the changes will not be pushed so that the developer can fix or revert the change.
git-push: This automatically pushes the just applied change to your Git repository. You should be always one commit ahead of origin when you make changes.
unlock-any: This ensures that any locks are released. any means that the owner is ignored. This step can be used alone if another developer forget to release the lock.
-- alpha prod tofu: -- is the separator between the workflow definition and module, profile, and the shell command, in this case tofu.

How This Transforms Your Workflow

A simple alias is now extending the capabilities of OpenTofu. Now OpenTofu has the capabilities of Atlantis and Atmos. But BigConfig is not specific to OpenTofu and it can be used also with Ansible, K8s, and your dotfiles.

Before: OpenTofu was not enough and other tools were required like Atlantis and Atmos.

After: Any DevOps tool can be augmented to have the capabilities of Atlantis and Atmos.

The sequential workflow, with all its checks, locks, and pushes, becomes completely invisible to the user. You interact with OpenTofu as you normally would, but all the surrounding boilerplate is handled automatically by BigConfig.

Benefits for Your Team

Increased Productivity: Engineers can focus on writing IaC, not on the deployment mechanics.
Reduced Errors: Automated checks and consistent execution minimize human error.
Standardized Deployments: Ensures that every deployment follows the same robust process.
Faster Onboarding: New team members can quickly get up to speed without memorizing complex sequences.

Get Started!

If you’re using OpenTofu and looking to streamline your IaC workflows, exploring BigConfig and implementing a similar shell alias is highly recommended. It’s a small change that yields massive benefits, transforming your change process from a visible chore into an invisible, seamless part of your development process. Happy infrastructure building! 🚀

Are you still using Atlantis or Atmos? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your experiences.