Terraform-Associate-003 HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (003) Questions and Answers

Any user with permission to apply a plan can apply it, not only the user that generated it. This allows for collaboration and delegation of tasks among team members.

This is not a responsibility of a Terraform provider, as it does not make sense grammatically or logically. A Terraform provider is responsible for exposing resources and data sources based on an API, managing actions to take based on resource differences, and understanding API interactions with some service.

Option C is the correct way to configure multiple providers in a Terraform configuration. Each provider block must have a name attribute that specifies which provider it configures2. The other options are either missing the name attribute or using an invalid syntax.

These are the parameters that terraform import requires, as they allow Terraform to identify the existing resource that you want to import into your state file, and match it with the corresponding configuration block in your files.

These are features of Terraform Cloud, which is a hosted service that provides a web-based UI, remote state storage, remote operations, collaboration features, and more for managing your Terraform infrastructure.

This is the variable type that you could use for this input, as it can store multiple attributes of different types within a single value. The other options are either invalid or incorrect for this use case.

These are examples of infrastructure as code (IaC), which is a practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through machine-readable definition files, rather than physical hardware configuration or interactive configuration tools.

This is how you specify a module’s version when publishing it to the public Terraform Module Registry, as it uses the tags from your version control system (such as GitHub or GitLab) to identify module versions. You need to use semantic versioning for your tags, such as v1.0.0.

This command will initialize the new backend and prompt you to migrate the existing state file to the new location3. The other commands are not relevant for this task.

Theterraform plancommand does not update the state file. Instead, it reads the current state and the configuration files to determine what changes would be made to bring the real-world infrastructure into the desired state defined in the configuration. The plan operation is a read-only operation and does not modify the state or the infrastructure. It is theterraform applycommand that actually applies changes and updates the state file.References= Terraform's official guidelines and documentation clarify the purpose of theterraform plancommand, highlighting its role in preparing and showing an execution plan without making any changes to the actual state or infrastructure .

To make Terraform's logging more verbose for troubleshooting purposes, you must configure theTF_LOGenvironment variable. This variable controls the level of logging and can be set to TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN, or ERROR, with TRACE providing the most verbose output.References= Detailed debugging instructions and the use of environment variables likeTF_LOGfor increasing verbosity are part of Terraform's standard debugging practices

State locking prevents other users from modifying the state file while a Terraform operation is in progress. This prevents conflicts and data loss1.

A provider configuration block is not required in every Terraform configuration. A provider configuration block can be omitted if its contents would otherwise be empty. Terraform assumes an empty default configuration for any provider that is not explicitly configured. However, some providers may require some configuration arguments (such as endpoint URLs or cloud regions) before they can be used. A provider’s documentation should list which configuration arguments it expects. For providers distributed on the Terraform Registry, versioned documentation is available on each provider’s page, via the “Documentation” link in the provider’s header1. References = [Provider Configuration]1

The terraform state show command allows you to access all of the attributes and details of a resource managed by Terraform. You can use the resource address (e.g. provider_type.name) as an argument to show the information about a specific resource. The terraform state list command only shows the list of resources in the state, not their attributes. The terraform get command downloads and installs modules needed for the configuration. It does not show any information about resources. References = [Command: state show] and [Command: state list]

This is where the Terraform local backend stores its state, by default, unless you specify a different file name or location in your configuration. The local backend is the simplest backend type that stores the state file on your local disk.

If you update the version constraint in your Terraform configuration, Terraform will update your lock file the next time you run terraform init3. This will ensure that you use the same provider versions across different machines and runs.

The .terraform.lock.hcl file is a new feature in Terraform 0.14 that records the exact versions of each provider used in your configuration. This helps ensure consistent and reproducible behavior across different machines and runs.

HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) does not support user-defined functions. You can only use the built-in functions that are provided by the language. The built-in functions allow you to perform various operations and transformations on values within expressions. The general syntax for function calls is a function name followed by comma-separated arguments in parentheses, such as max(5, 12, 9). You can find the documentation for all of the available built-in functions in the Terraform Registry or the Packer Documentation, depending on which tool you are using. References = : Functions - Configuration Language | Terraform : Functions - Configuration Language | Packer

The public Terraform Module Registry automatically exposes all the information about published modules, including required input variables, optional input variables and default values, and outputs. This helps users to understand how to use and configure the modules.

This is the Terraform style convention for indenting a nesting level compared to the one above it. The other options are not consistent with the Terraform style guide.

The terraform apply command changes both the cloud infrastructure and the state file after you approve the execution plan. The command creates, updates, or destroys the infrastructure resources to match the configuration. It also updates the state file to reflect the new state of the infrastructure. The .terraform directory, the execution plan, and the Terraform code are not changed by the terraform apply command. References = Command: apply and Purpose of Terraform State

Terraform providers are not part of the Terraform core binary. Providers are distributed separately from Terraform itself and have their own release cadence and version numbers. Providers are plugins that Terraform uses to interact with various APIs, such as cloud providers, SaaS providers, and other services. You can find and install providers from the Terraform Registry, which hosts providers for most major infrastructure platforms. You can also load providers from a local mirror or cache, or develop your own custom providers. To use a provider in your Terraform configuration, you need to declare it in the provider requirements block and optionally configure its settings in the provider block. References = : Providers - Configuration Language | Terraform : Terraform Registry - Providers Overview | Terraform

To output returned values from a child module in the Terraform CLI output, you need to declare the output in both the child module and the root module. The child module output will return the value to the root module, and the root module output will display the value in the CLI. References = [Terraform Outputs]

Sentinel policies are checked after the plan stage of a Terraform run, but before it can be confirmed or the terraform apply is executed3. This allows you to enforce rules on your infrastructure before it is created or modified.

This is the backend that the Terraform CLI uses by default, unless you specify a different backend in your configuration. The local backend stores the state file in a local file named terraform.tfstate, which can be used to track and manage the state of your infrastructure.

When declaring a Terraform output, thevalueargument is required. Outputs are a way to extract information from Terraform-managed infrastructure, and thevalueargument specifies what data will be outputted. While other arguments likedescriptionandsensitivecan provide additional context or security around the output,valueis the only mandatory argument needed to define an output.References= The requirement of thevalueargument for outputs is specified in Terraform's official documentation, which provides guidelines on defining and using outputs in Terraform configurations.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) can indeed be stored in a version control system along with application code. This practice is a fundamental principle of modern infrastructure management, allowing teams to apply software development practices like versioning, peer review, and CI/CD to infrastructure management. Storing IaC configurations in version control facilitates collaboration, history tracking, and change management.References= While this concept is a foundational aspect of IaC and is widely accepted in the industry, direct references from the HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003) study materials were not found in the provided files. However, this practice is encouraged in Terraform's best practices and various HashiCorp learning resources.

The Terraform binary version and provider versions do not have to match each other in a single configuration. Terraform allows you to specify provider version constraints in the configuration’s terraform block, which can be different from the Terraform binary version1. Terraform will use the newest version of the provider that meets the configuration’s version constraints2. You can also use the dependency lock file to ensure Terraform is using the correct provider version3. References =

•1: Providers - Configuration Language | Terraform | HashiCorp Developer

•2: Multiple provider versions with Terraform - Stack Overflow

•3: Lock and upgrade provider versions | Terraform - HashiCorp Developer

This command will upgrade the plugins to the latest acceptable version within the version constraints specified in the configuration. The other commands do not have an -upgrade option.

Terraform modules are referenced by specifying a source location. This location can be a URL or a file path. However, specifying query parameters such as?version=vl.6.0directly within the source path is not a valid or supported method for specifying a module version in Terraform. Instead, version constraints are specified using theversionargument within the module block, not as part of the source string.References= This clarification is based on Terraform's official documentation regarding module usage, which outlines the correct methods for specifying module sources and versions.

Terraform validate reports configuration consistency errors, such as declaring a resource identifier more than once. This means that the same resource type and name combination isused for multiple resource blocks, which is not allowed in Terraform. For example, resource "aws_instance" "example" {...} cannot be used more than once in the same configuration. Terraform validate does not report errors related to module versions, state differences, or formatting issues, as these are not relevant for checking the configuration syntax and structure. References = [Validate Configuration], [Resource Syntax]

This is the command that lets you experiment with Terraform expressions, by providing an interactive console that allows you to evaluate expressions and see their results. You can use this command to test your expressions before using them in your configuration files.

Running terraform fmt without any flags in a directory with Terraform configuration files will not check the formatting of those files without changing their contents, but will actually rewrite them to a canonical format and style. If you want to check the formatting without making changes, you need to use the -check flag.

This is how the Terraform Cloud integration differs from other state backends such as S3, Consul, etc., as it allows you to perform remote operations on Terraform Cloud’s servers instead of your local machine. The other options are either incorrect or irrelevant.

This is what determines how Terraform creates, updates, or deletes resources, as it is responsible for understanding API interactions with some service and exposing resources and data sources based on that API.

To import the contents of a local file as a string in Terraform, you can use the built-infilefunction. By specifyingfile("id_rsa.pub"), Terraform reads the contents of theid_rsa.pubfile and uses it as a string within your Terraform configuration. This function is particularly useful for scenarios where you need to include file data directly into your configuration, such as including an SSH public key for provisioning cloud instances.References= This information is a standard part of Terraform's functionality with built-in functions, as outlined in Terraform's official documentation and commonly used in variousTerraform configurations.

You can configure Terraform to log to a file using the TF_LOG environment variable. This variable can be set to one of the log levels: TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN or ERROR. You can also use the TF_LOG_PATH environment variable to specify a custom log file location. References = : Debugging Terraform

Outside of the required_providers block, Terraform configurations can refer to providers by either their local names or their source addresses. The local name is a short name that can be used throughout the configuration, while the source address is a global identifier for the provider in the format registry.terraform.io/namespace/type. For example, you can use either aws or registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/aws to refer to the AWS provider.

The module source path that does not specify a remote module is source = "module/consul". This specifies a local module, which is a module that is stored in a subdirectory of the current working directory. The other options are all examples of remote modules, which are modules that are stored outside of the current working directory and can be accessed by various protocols, such as Git, HTTP, or the Terraform Registry. Remote modules are useful for sharing and reusing code across different configurations and environments. References = [Module Sources], [Local Paths], [Terraform Registry], [Generic Git Repository], [GitHub]

This is the correct way to reference the volume IDs associated with the ebs_block_device blocks in this configuration, using the splat expression syntax. The other options are either invalid or incomplete.

This is how Terraform chooses which version of the provider to use, when you add a new resource to an existing Terraform configuration, but do not update the version constraint in the configuration. The lock file records the exact version of each provider that was installed in yourworking directory, and ensures that Terraform will always use the same provider versions until you run terraform init -upgrade to update them.

You must initialize your working directory before running terraform validate, as it will ensure that all the required plugins and modules are installed and configured properly. If you skip this step, you may encounter errors or inconsistencies when validating your configuration files.

These are some of the ways that a ticket-based system can slow down infrastructure provisioning and limit the ability to scale, as they introduce delays, bottlenecks, and manual interventions in the process of creating and modifying infrastructure.

Variables declared within a module are only accessible within that module, unless they are explicitly exposed as output values1.

This is how Terraform manages most dependencies between resources, by using the references between them in the configuration files. For example, if resource A depends on resource B, Terraform will create resource B first and then pass its attributes to resource A.