HashiCorp Terraform Associate (004)

Understand what Infrastructure as Code is, why teams adopt it, and how Terraform's provider-agnostic model manages multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and service-agnostic workflows.

• Explain what IaC is: declarative desired-state configuration vs manual/imperative provisioning
• Describe the advantages of IaC patterns: consistency, repeatability, version control, collaboration, auditability
• Explain how Terraform manages multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and service-agnostic workflows through its provider model
• Idempotency: applying the same configuration repeatedly converges on the same state
• Terraform vs other IaC tooling (CloudFormation, Pulumi, Ansible): declarative vs imperative, provider-agnostic vs platform-specific

Free Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform practice questions →Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform study guide →

Install and version Terraform providers, understand how Terraform uses providers, write configuration spanning multiple providers, and explain how Terraform uses and manages state.

• Install and version Terraform providers: required_providers block, version constraint operators
• Describe how Terraform uses providers: plugin architecture, the Terraform Registry, provider authentication
• Write Terraform configuration using multiple providers: provider blocks, aliasing multiple configurations of the same provider
• Explain how Terraform uses and manages state: state as a mapping between configuration and real infrastructure
• The dependency lock file (.terraform.lock.hcl) and provider version pinning

Free Terraform fundamentals practice questions →Terraform fundamentals study guide →

Describe and execute the core Terraform workflow: initialize a working directory, validate configuration, generate and review an execution plan, apply changes, destroy infrastructure, and apply formatting/style conventions.

• Describe the Terraform workflow: write, plan, apply
• Initialize a Terraform working directory: terraform init, backend and provider installation, the .terraform directory
• Validate a Terraform configuration: terraform validate for syntax and internal consistency
• Generate and review an execution plan: terraform plan, resource action symbols (+, -, ~, -/+)
• Apply changes to infrastructure: terraform apply, auto-approve, targeted apply
• Destroy Terraform-managed infrastructure: terraform destroy, targeted destroy
• Apply formatting and style adjustments: terraform fmt

Free Core Terraform workflow practice questions →Core Terraform workflow study guide →

Write Terraform configuration using resource and data blocks, cross-resource references, variables and outputs, complex types, dynamic expressions and functions, dependency handling, custom validation conditions, and sensitive-data best practices.

• Use and differentiate resource and data blocks
• Refer to resource attributes and create cross-resource references
• Use variables and outputs: variable blocks, output blocks, sensitive values
• Understand and use complex types: list, map, set, object, tuple
• Write dynamic configuration using expressions and functions: conditional expressions, for expressions, dynamic blocks, built-in functions
• Define resource dependencies in configuration: implicit dependencies from references vs explicit depends_on
• Validate configuration using custom conditions: variable validation blocks, precondition/postcondition
• Understand best practices for managing sensitive data, including secrets management with Vault

Free Terraform configuration practice questions →Terraform configuration study guide →

Create, use, and publish Terraform modules to encapsulate and reuse infrastructure configurations.

• Explain how Terraform sources modules: local paths, Git, the Terraform Registry
• Describe variable scope within modules: root module vs child module variable scope
• Use modules in configuration: module blocks, module inputs and outputs, composing modules together
• Manage module versions: version constraints for Registry modules

Free Terraform modules practice questions →Terraform modules study guide →

Describe the local backend, state locking, configuring remote state with the backend block, and managing resource drift and Terraform state.

• Describe the local backend: default state storage on disk
• Describe state locking: preventing concurrent state modifications
• Configure remote state using the backend block: remote backend types and partial configuration
• Manage resource drift and Terraform state: terraform refresh behavior, -refresh-only plans, reconciling out-of-band changes
• terraform state subcommands: list, show, mv, rm

Free Terraform state management practice questions →Terraform state management study guide →

Bring existing infrastructure under Terraform management, inspect state from the CLI, and use verbose logging to troubleshoot Terraform runs.

• Import existing infrastructure into your Terraform workspace: terraform import, import blocks
• Use the CLI to inspect state: terraform show, terraform state list, terraform state show
• Describe when and how to use verbose logging: TF_LOG levels and when to enable them for troubleshooting

Free Maintain infrastructure with Terraform practice questions →Maintain infrastructure with Terraform study guide →

Understand HCP Terraform (formerly Terraform Cloud) for provisioning infrastructure, team collaboration and governance, organizing workspaces and projects, and integrating with external systems.

• Use HCP Terraform to create infrastructure: HCP Terraform-driven runs vs CLI-driven workflows
• Describe HCP Terraform collaboration and governance features: teams, permissions, policy as code (Sentinel/OPA)
• Describe how to organize and use HCP Terraform workspaces and projects
• Configure and use HCP Terraform integration: VCS-driven workflows, the private registry, run triggers, the API

Free HCP Terraform practice questions →HCP Terraform study guide →