17/01/2022, 23:18 250 Practice Questions For Terraform Associate Certification | by Bhargav Bachina | Bachina Labs | Medium

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250 Practice Questions For Terraform Associate

Certification
Read and Practice these questions before your exam

Bhargav Bachina Follow

Jul 13, 2020 · 47 min read

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Terraform Certification

The Terraform Associate certification is for Cloud Engineers specializing in operations,

IT, or developers who know the basic concepts and skills associated with open source
HashiCorp Terraform. Candidates will be best prepared for this exam if they have
professional experience using Terraform in production, but performing the exam
objectives in a personal demo environment may also be sufficient.

Since this exam is multiple-choice, multiple-answer, and fill in the banks' questions, we
need a lot of practice before the exam. This article helps you understand, practice, and
get you ready for the exam. All the questions and answers are taken straight from
their documentation. These are only practice questions.

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We are not going to discuss any concepts here, rather, I just want to create a bunch of
practice questions for this exam based on the curriculum provided here.

Understand infrastructure as code (IaC) concepts

Understand Terraform’s purpose (vs other IaC)

Understand Terraform basics

Use the Terraform CLI (outside of core workflow)

Interact with Terraform modules

Navigate Terraform workflow

Implement and maintain state

Read, generate, and modify the configuration

Understand Terraform Cloud and Enterprise capabilities

Understand infrastructure as code (IaC) concepts

Practice questions based on these concepts

Explain what IaC is

Describe the advantages of IaC patterns

1. What is Infrastructure as Code?

You write and execute the code to define, deploy, update, and
destroy your infrastructure

2. What are the benefits of IaC?

a. Automation

We can bring up the servers with one script and scale up and down
based on our load with the same script.

b. Reusability of the code

We can reuse the same code

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c. Versioning

We can check it into version control and we get versioning. Now we

can see an incremental history of who changed what, how is our
infrastructure actually defined at any given point of time, and
wehave this transparency of documentation

IaC makes changes idempotent, consistent, repeatable, and

predictable.

3. How using IaC make it easy to provision infrastructure?

IaC makes it easy to provision and apply infrastructure

configurations, saving time. It standardizes workflows across
different infrastructure providers (e.g., VMware, AWS, Azure, GCP,
etc.) by using a common syntax across all of them.

4. What is Ideompodent in terms of IaC?

The idempotent characteristic provided by IaC tools ensures that,

even if the same code is applied multiple times, the result remains
the same.

5. What are Day 0 and Day 1 activities?

IaC can be applied throughout the lifecycle, both on the initial

build, as well as throughout the life of the infrastructure.
Commonly, these are referred to as Day 0 and Day 1 activities.

“Day 0” code provisions and configures your initial infrastructure.

“Day 1” refers to OS and application configurations you apply after

you’ve initially built your infrastructure.

6. What are the use cases of Terraform?

Heroku App Setup

Multi-Tier Applications

Self-Service Clusters

Software Demos

Disposable Environments

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Software Defined Networking

Resource Schedulers

Multi-Cloud Deployment

https://www.terraform.io/intro/use-cases.html

7. What are the advantages of Terraform?

Platform Agnostic

State Management

Operator Confidence

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/getting-started/intro

8. Where do you describe all the components or your entire datacenter so that
Terraform provision those?

Configuration files ends with *.tf

9. How can Terraform build infrastructure so efficiently?

Terraform builds a graph of all your resources, and parallelizes the

creation and modification of any non-dependent resources. Because of
this, Terraform builds infrastructure as efficiently as possible,
and operators get insight into dependencies in their infrastructure.

Understand Terraform’s purpose (vs other IaC)

Practice questions based on these concepts

Explain multi-cloud and provider-agnostic benefits

Explain the benefits of state

10. What is multi-cloud deployment?

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Provisoning your infrastrcutire into multiple cloud providers to

increase fault-tolerance of your applications.

11. How multi-cloud deployment is useful?

By using only a single region or cloud provider, fault tolerance is

limited by the availability of that provider.

Having a multi-cloud deployment allows for more graceful recovery of

the loss of a region or entire provider.

12. What is cloud-agnostic in terms of provisioning tools?

cloud-agnostic and allows a single configuration to be used to

manage multiple providers, and to even handle cross-cloud
dependencies.

13. Is Terraform cloud-agostic?

Yes

14. What is the use of terraform being cloud-agnostic?

It simplifies management and orchestration, helping operators build

large-scale multi-cloud infrastructures.

15. What is the Terraform State?

Every time you run Terraform, it records information about what

infrastructure it created in a Terraform state file.

By default, when you run Terraform in the folder /some/folder,

Terraform creates the file /some/folder/terraform.tfstate.

This file contains a custom JSON format that records a mapping from
the Terraform resources in your configuration files to the

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representation of those resources in the real world.

16. What is the purpose of the Terraform State?

Mapping to the Real World

Terraform requires some sort of database to map Terraform config to

the real world because you can't find the same functionality in
every cloud provider. You need to have some kind of mechanism to be
cloud-agnostic

Metadata

Terraform must also track metadata such as resource dependencies,

pointer to the provider configuration that was most recently used
with the resource in situations where multiple aliased providers are
present.

Performance

When running a terraform plan, Terraform must know the current state
of resources in order to effectively determine the changes that it
needs to make to reach your desired configuration.

For larger infrastructures, querying every resource is too slow.

Many cloud providers do not provide APIs to query multiple resources
at once, and the round trip time for each resource is hundreds of
milliseconds. So, Terraform stores a cache of the attribute values
for all resources in the state. This is the most optional feature of
Terraform state and is done only as a performance improvement.

Syncing

When two people works on the same file and doing some changes to the
infrastructure. Its very important for everyone to be working with
the same state so that operations will be applied to the same remote
objects.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/state/purpose.html

17. What is the name of the terraform state file?

terraform.tfstate

Understand Terraform basics

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Practice questions based on these concepts

Handle Terraform and provider installation and versioning

Describe the plug-in based architecture

Demonstrate using multiple providers

Describe how Terraform finds and fetches providers

Explain when to use and not use provisioners and when to use local-exec or remote-
exec

18. How do you install terraform on different OS?

// Mac OS

brew install terraform

// Windows

choco install terraform

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/getting-started/install

19. How do you manually install terraform?

step 1: Download the zip fille

step 2: mv ~/Downloads/terraform /usr/local/bin/terraform

20. Where do you put terraform configurations so that you can configure some
behaviors of Terraform itself?

The special terraform configuration block type is used to configure

some behaviors of Terraform itself, such as requiring a minimum
Terraform version to apply your configuration.

terraform {

# ...

21. Only constants are allowed inside the terraform block. Is this correct?

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Yes

Within a terraform block, only constant values can be used;

arguments may not refer to named objects such as resources, input
variables, etc, and may not use any of the Terraform language built-
in functions.

22. What are the Providers?

A provider is a plugin that Terraform uses to translate the API

interactions with the service. A provider is responsible for
understanding API interactions and exposing resources. Because
Terraform can interact with any API, you can represent almost any
infrastructure type as a resource in Terraform.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/providers.html

23. How do you configure a Provider?

provider "google" {

project = "acme-app"

region = "us-central1"

The name given in the block header ("google" in this example) is the
name of the provider to configure. Terraform associates each
resource type with a provider by taking the first word of the
resource type name (separated by underscores), and so the "google"
provider is assumed to be the provider for the resource type name
google_compute_instance.

The body of the block (between { and }) contains configuration

arguments for the provider itself. Most arguments in this section
are specified by the provider itself; in this example both project
and region are specific to the google provider.

24. What are the meta-arguments that are defined by Terraform itself and available
for all provider blocks?

version: Constraining the allowed provider versions

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alias: using the same provider with different configurations for

different resources

25. What is Provider initialization and why do we need?

Each time a new provider is added to configuration -- either

explicitly via a provider block or by adding a resource from that
provider -- Terraform must initialize the provider before it can be
used.

Initialization downloads and installs the provider's plugin so that

it can later be executed.

26. How do you initialize any Provider?

Provider initialization is one of the actions of terraform init.

Running this command will download and initialize any providers that
are not already initialized.

27. When you run terraform init command, all the providers are installed in the
current working directory. Is this true?

Providers downloaded by terraform init are only installed for the

current working directory; other working directories can have their
own installed provider versions.

Note that terraform init cannot automatically download providers

that are not distributed by HashiCorp. See Third-party Plugins below
for installation instructions.

28. How do you constrain the provider version?

To constrain the provider version as suggested, add a

required_providers block inside a terraform block:

terraform {

required_providers {

aws = "~> 1.0"

}
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29. How do you upgrade to the latest acceptable version of the provider?

terraform init --upgrade

It upgrade to the latest acceptable version of each provider

This command also upgrades to the latest versions of all Terraform

modules.

30. How many ways you can configure provider versions?

1. With required_providers blocks under terraform block

terraform {

required_providers {

aws = "~> 1.0"

2. Provider version constraints can also be specified using a

version argument within a provider block

provider {

version= "1.0"

31. How do you configure Multiple Provider Instances?

alias

You can optionally define multiple configurations for the same

provider, and select which one to use on a per-resource or per-
module basis.

32. Why do we need Multiple Provider instances?

Some of the example scenarios:

a. multiple regions for a cloud platform

b. targeting multiple Docker hosts

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c. multiple Consul hosts, etc.

33. How do we define multiple Provider configurations?

To include multiple configurations for a given provider, include

multiple provider blocks with the same provider name, but set the
alias meta-argument to an alias name to use for each additional
configuration.

# The default provider configuration

provider "aws" {

region = "us-east-1"

# Additional provider configuration for west coast region

provider "aws" {

alias = "west"

region = "us-west-2"

34. How do you select alternate providers?

By default, resources use a default provider configuration inferred

from the first word of the resource type name. For example, a
resource of type aws_instance uses the default (un-aliased) aws
provider configuration unless otherwise stated.

resource "aws_instance" "foo" {

provider = aws.west

# ...

35. What is the location of the user plugins directory?

Windows %APPDATA%\terraform.d\plugins

All other systems ~/.terraform.d/plugins

36. Third-party plugins should be manually installed. Is that true?

True
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37. The command terraform init cannot install third-party plugins? True or false?

True

Install third-party providers by placing their plugin executables in

the user plugins directory. The user plugins directory is in one of
the following locations, depending on the host operating system

Once a plugin is installed, terraform init can initialize it

normally. You must run this command from the directory where the
configuration files are located.

38. What is the naming scheme for provider plugins?

terraform-provider-<NAME>_vX.Y.Z

39. What is the CLI configuration File?

The CLI configuration file configures per-user settings for CLI

behaviors, which apply across all Terraform working directories.

It is named either .terraformrc or terraform.rc

40. Where is the location of the CLI configuration File?

On Windows, the file must be named named terraform.rc and placed in

the relevant user's %APPDATA% directory.

On all other systems, the file must be named .terraformrc (note the
leading period) and placed directly in the home directory of the
relevant user.

The location of the Terraform CLI configuration file can also be

specified using the TF_CLI_CONFIG_FILE environment variable.

41. What is Provider Plugin Cache?

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By default, terraform init downloads plugins into a subdirectory of

the working directory so that each working directory is self-
contained. As a consequence, if you have multiple configurations
that use the same provider then a separate copy of its plugin will
be downloaded for each configuration.

Given that provider plugins can be quite large (on the order of
hundreds of megabytes), this default behavior can be inconvenient
for those with slow or metered Internet connections.

Therefore Terraform optionally allows the use of a local directory

as a shared plugin cache, which then allows each distinct plugin
binary to be downloaded only once.

42. How do you enable Provider Plugin Cache?

To enable the plugin cache, use the plugin_cache_dir setting in the

CLI configuration file.

plugin_cache_dir = "$HOME/.terraform.d/plugin-cache"

Alternatively, the TF_PLUGIN_CACHE_DIR environment variable can be

used to enable caching or to override an existing cache directory
within a particular shell session:

43. When you are using plugin cache you end up growing cache directory with
different versions. Whose responsibility to clean it?

User

Terraform will never itself delete a plugin from the plugin cache
once it's been placed there. Over time, as plugins are upgraded, the
cache directory may grow to contain several unused versions which
must be manually deleted.

44. Why do we need to initialize the directory?

When you create a new configuration — or check out an existing

configuration from version control — you need to initialize the
directory

// Example

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provider "aws" {

profile = "default"

region = "us-east-1"

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

ami = "ami-2757f631"

instance_type = "t2.micro"

Initializing a configuration directory downloads and installs

providers used in the configuration, which in this case is the aws
provider. Subsequent commands will use local settings and data
during initialization.

45. What is the command to initialize the directory?

terraform init

46. If different teams are working on the same configuration. How do you make files
to have consistent formatting?

terraform fmt

This command automatically updates configurations in the current

directory for easy readability and consistency.

47. If different teams are working on the same configuration. How do you make files
to have syntactically valid and internally consistent?

terraform validate

This command will check and report errors within modules, attribute
names, and value types.

Validate your configuration. If your configuration is valid,

Terraform will return a success message.

48. What is the command to create infrastructure?

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terraform apply

49. What is the command to show the execution plan and not apply?

terraform plan

50. How do you inspect the current state of the infrastructure applied?

terraform show

When you applied your configuration, Terraform wrote data into a

file called terraform.tfstate. This file now contains the IDs and
properties of the resources Terraform created so that it can manage
or destroy those resources going forward.

51. If your state file is too big and you want to list the resources from your state.
What is the command?

terraform state list

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/getting-
started/build#manually-managing-state

52. What is plug-in based architecture?

Defining additional features as plugins to your core platform or

core application. This provides extensibility, flexibility and
isolation

53. What are Provisioners?

If you need to do some initial setup on your instances, then

provisioners let you upload files, run shell scripts, or install and
trigger other software like configuration management tools, etc.

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54. How do you define provisioners?

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

ami = "ami-b374d5a5"

instance_type = "t2.micro"

provisioner "local-exec" {

command = "echo hello > hello.txt"

Provisioner block within the resource block. Multiple provisioner

blocks can be added to define multiple provisioning steps. Terraform
supports multiple provisioners

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/getting-started/provision

55. What are the types of provisioners?

local-exec

remote-exec

56. What is a local-exec provisioner and when do we use it?

The local-exec provisioner executing a command locally on your

machine running Terraform.

We use this when we need to do something on our local machine

without needing any external URL

57. What is a remote-exec provisioner and when do we use it?

Another useful provisioner is remote-exec which invokes a script on

a remote resource after it is created.

This can be used to run a configuration management tool, bootstrap

into a cluster, etc.

58. Are provisioners runs only when the resource is created or destroyed?

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Provisioners are only run when a resource is created or destroyed.

Provisioners that are run while destroying are Destroy
provisioners.

They are not a replacement for configuration management and changing

the software of an already-running server, and are instead just
meant as a way to bootstrap a server.

59. What do we need to use a remote-exec?

In order to use a remote-exec provisioner, you must choose an ssh or

winrm connection in the form of a connection block within the
provisioner.

Here is an example

provider "aws" {

profile = "default"

region = "us-west-2"

resource "aws_key_pair" "example" {

key_name = "examplekey"

public_key = file("~/.ssh/terraform.pub")

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

key_name = aws_key_pair.example.key_name

ami = "ami-04590e7389a6e577c"

instance_type = "t2.micro"

connection {

type = "ssh"

user = "ec2-user"

private_key = file("~/.ssh/terraform")

host = self.public_ip

provisioner "remote-exec" {

inline = [

"sudo amazon-linux-extras enable nginx1.12",

"sudo yum -y install nginx",

"sudo systemctl start nginx"

60. When terraform mark the resources are tainted?

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If a resource successfully creates but fails during provisioning,

Terraform will error and mark the resource as "tainted".

A resource that is tainted has been physically created, but can't be

considered safe to use since provisioning failed.

61. You applied the infrastructure with terraform apply and you have some tainted
resources. You run an execution plan now what happens to those tainted resources?

When you generate your next execution plan, Terraform will not
attempt to restart provisioning on the same resource because it
isn't guaranteed to be safe.

Instead, Terraform will remove any tainted resources and create new
resources, attempting to provision them again after creation.

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/getting-started/provision

62. Terraform also does not automatically roll back and destroy the resource during
the apply when the failure happens. Why?

Terraform also does not automatically roll back and destroy the
resource during the apply when the failure happens, because that
would go against the execution plan: the execution plan would've
said a resource will be created, but does not say it will ever be
deleted. If you create an execution plan with a tainted resource,
however, the plan will clearly state that the resource will be
destroyed because it is tainted.

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/getting-started/provision

63. How do you manually taint a resource?

terraform taint resource.id

64. Does the taint command modify the infrastructure?

terraform taint resource.id

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This command will not modify infrastructure, but does modify the
state file in order to mark a resource as tainted. Once a resource
is marked as tainted, the next plan will show that the resource will
be destroyed and recreated and the next apply will implement this
change.

65. By default, provisioners that fail will also cause the Terraform apply itself to fail.
Is this true?

True

66. By default, provisioners that fail will also cause the Terraform apply itself to fail.
How do you change this?

The on_failure setting can be used to change this.

The allowed values are:

continue: Ignore the error and continue with creation or

destruction.

fial: Raise an error and stop applying (the default behavior). If

this is a creation provisioner, taint the resource.

// Example

resource "aws_instance" "web" {

# ...

provisioner "local-exec" {

command = "echo The server's IP address is ${self.private_ip}"

on_failure = "continue"

67. How do you define destroy provisioner and give an example?

You can define destroy provisioner with the parameter when

provisioner "remote-exec" {

when = "destroy"

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# <...snip...>

68. How do you apply constraints for the provider versions?

The required_providers setting is a map specifying a version

constraint for each provider required by your configuration.

terraform {

required_providers {

aws = ">= 2.7.0"

69. What should you use to set both a lower and upper bound on versions for each
provider?

~>

terraform {

required_providers {

aws = "~> 2.7.0"

70. How do you try experimental features?

In releases where experimental features are available, you can

enable them on a per-module basis by setting the experiments
argument inside a terraform block:

terraform {

experiments = [example]

71. When does the terraform does not recommend using provisions?

Passing data into virtual machines and other compute resources

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https://www.terraform.io/docs/provisioners/#passing-data-into-
virtual-machines-and-other-compute-resources

Running configuration management software

https://www.terraform.io/docs/provisioners/#running-configuration-
management-software

72. Expressions in provisioner blocks cannot refer to their parent resource by name.
Is this true?

True

The self object represents the provisioner's parent resource, and

has all of that resource's attributes.

For example, use self.public_ip to reference an aws_instance's

public_ip attribute.

73. What does this symbol version = “~> 1.0” mean when defining versions?

Any version more than 1.0 and less than 2.0

74. Terraform supports both cloud and on-premises infrastructure platforms. Is this
true?

True

75. Terraform assumes an empty default configuration for any provider that is not
explicitly configured. A provider block can be empty. Is this true?

True

76. How do you configure the required version of Terraform CLI can be used with
your configuration?

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The required_version setting can be used to constrain which versions

of the Terraform CLI can be used with your configuration. If the
running version of Terraform doesn't match the constraints
specified, Terraform will produce an error and exit without taking
any further actions.

77. Terraform CLI versions and provider versions are independent of each other. Is
this true?

True

78. You are configuring aws provider and it is always recommended to hard code
aws credentials in *.tf files. Is this true?

False

HashiCorp recommends that you never hard-code credentials into *.tf

configuration files. We are explicitly defining the default AWS
config profile here to illustrate how Terraform should access
sensitive credentials.

If you leave out your AWS credentials, Terraform will automatically

search for saved API credentials (for example, in
~/.aws/credentials) or IAM instance profile credentials. This is
cleaner when .tf files are checked into source control or if there
is more than one admin user

79. You are provisioning the infrastructure with the command terraform apply and
you noticed one of the resources failed. How do you remove that resource without
affecting the whole infrastructure?

You can taint the resource ans the next apply will destroy the
resource

terraform taint <resource.id>

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Use the Terraform CLI (outside of core workflow)

Practice questions based on these concepts

Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform fmt to format code

Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform taint to taint Terraform resources

Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform import to import existing

infrastructure into your Terraform state

Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform workspace to create workspaces

Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform state to view Terraform state

Given a scenario: choose when to enable verbose logging and what the
outcome/value is

80. What is command fmt?

The terraform fmt command is used to rewrite Terraform configuration

files to a canonical format and style. This command applies a subset
of the Terraform language style conventions, along with other minor
adjustments for readability.

81. What is the recommended approach after upgrading terraform?

The canonical format may change in minor ways between Terraform

versions, so after upgrading Terraform we recommend to proactively
run terraform fmt on your modules along with any other changes you
are making to adopt the new version.

82. What is the command usage?

terraform fmt [options] [DIR]

83. By default, fmt scans the current directory for configuration files. Is this true?

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True

By default, fmt scans the current directory for configuration files.

If the dir argument is provided then it will scan that given
directory instead. If dir is a single dash (-) then fmt will read
from standard input (STDIN).

84. You are formatting the configuration files and what is the flag you should use to
see the differences?

terraform fmt -diff

85. You are formatting the configuration files and what is the flag you should use to
process the subdirectories as well?

terraform fmt -recursive

86. You are formatting configuration files in a lot of directories and you don’t want
to see the list of file changes. What is the flag that you should use?

terraform fmt -list=false

87. What is the command taint?

The terraform taint command manually marks a Terraform-managed

resource as tainted, forcing it to be destroyed and recreated on the
next apply.

This command will not modify infrastructure, but does modify the
state file in order to mark a resource as tainted. Once a resource
is marked as tainted, the next plan will show that the resource will
be destroyed and recreated and the next apply will implement this
change.

88. What is the command usage?

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terraform taint [options] address

The address argument is the address of the resource to mark as

tainted. The address is in the resource address syntax syntax

89. When you are tainting a resource terraform reads the default state file
terraform.tfstate. What is the flag you should use to read from a different path?

terraform taint -state=path

90. Give an example of tainting a single resource?

terraform taint aws_security_group.allow_all

The resource aws_security_group.allow_all in the module root has

been marked as tainted.

91. Give an example of tainting a resource within a module?

terraform taint "module.couchbase.aws_instance.cb_node[9]"

Resource instance module.couchbase.aws_instance.cb_node[9] has been

marked as tainted.

92. What is the command import?

The terraform import command is used to import existing resources

into Terraform.

Terraform is able to import existing infrastructure. This allows you

take resources you've created by some other means and bring it under
Terraform management.

This is a great way to slowly transition infrastructure to

Terraform, or to be able to be confident that you can use Terraform
in the future if it potentially doesn't support every feature you
need today.

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93. What is the command import usage?

terraform import [options] ADDRESS ID

94. What is the default workspace name?

default

95. What are workspaces?

Each Terraform configuration has an associated backend that defines

how operations are executed and where persistent data such as the
Terraform state are stored.

The persistent data stored in the backend belongs to a workspace.

Initially the backend has only one workspace, called "default", and
thus there is only one Terraform state associated with that
configuration.

Certain backends support multiple named workspaces, allowing

multiple states to be associated with a single configuration.

96. What is the command to list the workspaces?

terraform workspace list

97. What is the command to create a new workspace?

terraform workspace new <name>

98. What is the command to show the current workspace?

terraform workspace show

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99. What is the command to switch the workspace?

terraform workspace select <workspace name>

100. What is the command to delete the workspace?

terraform workspace delete <workspace name>

101. Can you delete the default workspace?

No. You can't ever delete default workspace

102. You are working on the different workspaces and you want to use a different
number of instances based on the workspace. How do you achieve that?

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

count = "${terraform.workspace == "default" ? 5 : 1}"

# ... other arguments

103. You are working on the different workspaces and you want to use tags based on
the workspace. How do you achieve that?

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

tags = {

Name = "web - ${terraform.workspace}"

# ... other arguments

104. You want to create a parallel, distinct copy of a set of infrastructure in order to
test a set of changes before modifying the main production infrastructure. How do
you achieve that?
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Workspaces

105. What is the command state?

The terraform state command is used for advanced state management.

As your Terraform usage becomes more advanced, there are some cases
where you may need to modify the Terraform state. Rather than modify
the state directly, the terraform state commands can be used in many
cases instead.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/state/index.html

106. What is the command usage?

terraform state <subcommand> [options] [args]

107. You are working on terraform files and you want to list all the resources. What
is the command you should use?

terraform state list

108. How do you list the resources for the given name?

terraform state list <resource name>

109. What is the command that shows the attributes of a single resource in the state
file?

terraform state show 'resource name'

110. How do you do debugging terraform?

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Terraform has detailed logs which can be enabled by setting the

TF_LOG environment variable to any value.

This will cause detailed logs to appear on stderr.

You can set TF_LOG to one of the log levels TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN
or ERROR to change the verbosity of the logs. TRACE is the most
verbose and it is the default if TF_LOG is set to something other
than a log level name.

To persist logged output you can set TF_LOG_PATH in order to force

the log to always be appended to a specific file when logging is
enabled.

Note that even when TF_LOG_PATH is set, TF_LOG must be set in order
for any logging to be enabled.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/internals/debugging.html

111. If terraform crashes where should you see the logs?

crash.log

If Terraform ever crashes (a "panic" in the Go runtime), it saves a

log file with the debug logs from the session as well as the panic
message and backtrace to crash.log.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/internals/debugging.html

112. What is the first thing you should do when the terraform crashes?

panic message

The most interesting part of a crash log is the panic message itself
and the backtrace immediately following. So the first thing to do is
to search the file for panic

https://www.terraform.io/docs/internals/debugging.html

113. You are building infrastructure for different environments for example test
and dev. How do you maintain separate states?

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There are two primary methods to separate state between

environments:

directories

workspaces

114. What is the difference between directory-separated and workspace-separated

environments?

Directory separated environments rely on duplicate Terraform code,

which may be useful if your deployments need differ, for example to
test infrastructure changes in development. But they can run the
risk of creating drift between the environments over time.

Workspace-separated environments use the same Terraform code but

have different state files, which is useful if you want your
environments to stay as similar to each other as possible, for
example if you are providing development infrastructure to a team
that wants to simulate running in production.

115. What is the command to pull the remote state?

terraform state pull

This command will download the state from its current location and
output the raw format to stdout.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/state/pull.html

116. What is the command is used manually to upload a local state file to a remote
state

terraform state push

The terraform state push command is used to manually upload a local

state file to remote state. This command also works with local
state.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/state/push.html

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117. The command terraform taint modifies the state file and doesn’t modify the
infrastructure. Is this true?

True

This command will not modify infrastructure, but does modify the
state file in order to mark a resource as tainted. Once a resource
is marked as tainted, the next plan will show that the resource will
be destroyed and recreated and the next apply will implement this
change.

118. Your team has decided to use terraform in your company and you have existing
infrastructure. How do you migrate your existing resources to terraform and start
using it?

You should use terraform import and modify the infrastrcuture in the
terraform files and do the terraform workflow (init, plan, apply)

119. When you are working with the workspaces how do you access the current
workspace in the configuration files?

${terraform.workspace}

120. When you are using workspaces where does the Terraform save the state file for
the local state?

terraform.tfstate.d

For local state, Terraform stores the workspace states in a

directory called terraform.tfstate.d.

121. When you are using workspaces where does the Terraform save the state file for
the remote state?

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For remote state, the workspaces are stored directly in the

configured backend.

122. How do you remove items from the Terraform state?

terraform state rm 'packet_device.worker'

The terraform state rm command is used to remove items from the

Terraform state. This command can remove single resources, single
instances of a resource, entire modules, and more.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/state/rm.html

123. How do you move the state from one source to another?

terraform state mv 'module.app' 'module.parent.module.app'

The terraform state mv command is used to move items in a Terraform

state. This command can move single resources, single instances of a
resource, entire modules, and more. This command can also move items
to a completely different state file, enabling efficient
refactoring.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/state/mv.html

124. How do you rename a resource in the terraform state file?

terraform state mv 'packet_device.worker' 'packet_device.helper'

The above example renames the packet_device resource named worker to

helper:

Interact with Terraform modules

Practice questions based on these concepts

Contrast module source options

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Interact with module inputs and outputs

Describe variable scope within modules/child modules

Discover modules from the public Terraform Module Registry

Defining module version

125. Where do you find and explore terraform Modules?

The Terraform Registry makes it simple to find and use modules.

The search query will look at module name, provider, and description
to match your search terms. On the results page, filters can be used
further refine search results.

126. How do you make sure that modules have stability and compatibility?

By default, only verified modules are shown in search results.

Verified modules are reviewed by HashiCorp to ensure stability and

compatibility.

By using the filters, you can view unverified modules as well.

127. How do you download any modules?

You need to add any module in the configuration file like below

module "consul" {

source = "hashicorp/consul/aws"

version = "0.1.0"

terraform init command will download and cache any modules

referenced by a configuration.

128. What is the syntax for referencing a registry module?

<NAMESPACE>/<NAME>/<PROVIDER>

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// for example

module "consul" {

source = "hashicorp/consul/aws"

version = "0.1.0"

129. What is the syntax for referencing a private registry module?

<HOSTNAME>/<NAMESPACE>/<NAME>/<PROVIDER>

// for example

module "vpc" {

source = "app.terraform.io/example_corp/vpc/aws"

version = "0.9.3"

130. The terraform recommends that all modules must follow semantic versioning.
Is this true?

True

131. What is a Terraform Module?

A Terraform module is a set of Terraform configuration files in a

single directory. Even a simple configuration consisting of a single
directory with one or more .tf files is a module.

132. Why do we use modules for?

* Organize configuration

* Encapsulate configuration

* Re-use configuration

* Provide consistency and ensure best practices

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/modules/modules-overview

133. How do you call modules in your configuration?

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Your configuration can use module blocks to call modules in other

directories.

When Terraform encounters a module block, it loads and processes

that module's configuration files.

134. How many ways you can load modules?

Local and remote modules

Modules can either be loaded from the local filesystem, or a remote

source.

Terraform supports a variety of remote sources, including the

Terraform Registry, most version control systems, HTTP URLs, and
Terraform Cloud or Terraform Enterprise private module registries.

135. What are the best practices for using Modules?

1. Start writing your configuration with modules in mind. Even for

modestly complex Terraform configurations managed by a single
person, you'll find the benefits of using modules outweigh the time
it takes to use them properly.

2. Use local modules to organize and encapsulate your code. Even if

you aren't using or publishing remote modules, organizing your
configuration in terms of modules from the beginning will
significantlty reduce the burden of maintaining and updating your
configuration as your infrastructure grows in complexity.

3. Use the public Terraform Registry to find useful modules. This

way you can more quickly and confidently implement your
configuration by relying on the work of others to implement common
infrastructure scenarios.

4. Publish and share modules with your team. Most infrastructure is

managed by a team of people, and modules are important way that
teams can work together to create and maintain infrastructure. As
mentioned earlier, you can publish modules either publicly or
privately. We will see how to do this in a future guide in this
series.

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/modules/modules-
overview#module-best-practices

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136. What are the different source types for calling modules?

Local paths

Terraform Registry

GitHub

Generic Git, Mercurial repositories

Bitbucket

HTTP URLs

S3 buckets

GCS buckets

https://www.terraform.io/docs/modules/sources.html

137. What are the arguments you need for using modules in your configuration?

source and version

// example

module "consul" {

source = "hashicorp/consul/aws"

version = "0.1.0"

138. How do you set input variables for the modules?

The configuration that calls a module is responsible for setting its

input values, which are passed as arguments in the module block.
Aside from source and version, most of the arguments to a module
block will set variable values.

On the Terraform registry page for the AWS VPC module, you will see
an Inputs tab that describes all of the input variables that module
supports.

For example, we have defined a lot of input variables for the modules such as ads, cidr,
name, etc

1 provider "aws" {
2 region = "us-west-2"
3 }
4
5 module "vpc" {
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6 source = "terraform-aws-modules/vpc/aws"
7 version = "2.21.0"
8
9 name = var.vpc_name
10 cidr = var.vpc_cidr
11
12 azs = var.vpc_azs
13 private_subnets = var.vpc_private_subnets
14 public_subnets = var.vpc_public_subnets
15
16 enable_nat_gateway = var.vpc_enable_nat_gateway
17
18 tags = var.vpc_tags
19 }
20
21 module "ec2_instances" {
22 source = "terraform-aws-modules/ec2-instance/aws"
23 version = "2.12.0"
24
25 name = "my-ec2-cluster"
26 instance_count = 2
27
28 ami = "ami-0c5204531f799e0c6"
29 instance_type = "t2.micro"
30 vpc_security_group_ids = [module.vpc.default_security_group_id]
31 subnet_id = module.vpc.public_subnets[0]
32
33 tags = {
34 Terraform = "true"
35 Environment = "dev"
36 }
37 }

main.tf
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main.tf

139. How do you access output variables from the modules?

You can access them by referring

module.<MODULE NAME>.<OUTPUT NAME>

140. Where do you put output variables in the configuration?

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Module outputs are usually either passed to other parts of your

configuration, or defined as outputs in your root module. You will
see both uses in this guide.

Inside your configuration's directory, outputs.tf will need to

contain:

1 output "vpc_public_subnets" {
2 description = "IDs of the VPC's public subnets"
3 value = module.vpc.public_subnets
4 }
5
6 output "ec2_instance_public_ips" {
7 description = "Public IP addresses of EC2 instances"
8 value = module.ec2_instances.public_ip
9 }

outputs.tf
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outputs.tf

141. How do you pass input variables in the configuration?

You can define variables.tf in the root folder

variable "vpc_name" {

description = "Name of VPC"

type = string

default = "example-vpc"

Then you can access these varibles in the configuration like this

module "vpc" {

source = "terraform-aws-modules/vpc/aws"

version = "2.21.0"

name = var.vpc_name

cidr = var.vpc_cidr

azs = var.vpc_azs

private_subnets = var.vpc_private_subnets

public_subnets = var.vpc_public_subnets

enable_nat_gateway = var.vpc_enable_nat_gateway

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tags = var.vpc_tags

142. What is the child module?

A module that is called by another configuration is sometimes

referred to as a "child module" of that configuration.

143. When you use local modules you don’t have to do the command init or get every
time there is a change in the local module. why?

When installing a local module, Terraform will instead refer

directly to the source directory.

Because of this, Terraform will automatically notice changes to

local modules without having to re-run terraform init or terraform
get.

144. When you use remote modules what should you do if there is a change in the
module?

When installing a remote module, Terraform will download it into the

.terraform directory in your configuration's root directory.

You should initialize with terraform init

145. A simple configuration consisting of a single directory with one or more .tf files
is a module. Is this true?

True

146. When using a new module for the first time, you must run either terraform

init or terraform get to install the module. Is this true?

True
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147. When installing the modules and where does the terraform save these modules?

.terraform/modules

// Example

.terraform/modules

├── ec2_instances

│ └── terraform-aws-modules-terraform-aws-ec2-instance-ed6dcd9

├── modules.json

└── vpc

└── terraform-aws-modules-terraform-aws-vpc-2417f60

148. What is the required argument for the module?

source

All modules require a source argument, which is a meta-argument

defined by Terraform CLI. Its value is either the path to a local
directory of the module's configuration files, or a remote module
source that Terraform should download and use. This value must be a
literal string with no template sequences; arbitrary expressions are
not allowed. For more information on possible values for this
argument, see Module Sources.

149. What are the other optional meta-arguments along with the source when
defining modules

version - (Optional) A version constraint string that specifies

which versions of the referenced module are acceptable. The newest
version matching the constraint will be used. version is supported
only for modules retrieved from module registries.

providers - (Optional) A map whose keys are provider configuration

names that are expected by child module and whose values are
corresponding provider names in the calling module. This allows
provider configurations to be passed explicitly to child modules. If
not specified, the child module inherits all of the default (un-
aliased) provider configurations from the calling module.

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Navigate Terraform workflow

Practice questions based on these concepts

Describe Terraform workflow ( Write -> Plan -> Create )

Initialize a Terraform working directory (terraform init)

Validate a Terraform configuration (terraform validate)

Generate and review an execution plan for Terraform (terraform plan)

Execute changes to infrastructure with Terraform (terraform apply)

Destroy Terraform managed infrastructure (terraform destroy)

150. What is the Core Terraform workflow?

The core Terraform workflow has three steps:

1. Write - Author infrastructure as code.

2. Plan - Preview changes before applying.

3. Apply - Provision reproducible infrastructure.

151. What is the workflow when you work as an Individual Practitioner?

https://www.terraform.io/guides/core-workflow.html#working-as-an-
individual-practitioner

152. What is the workflow when you work as a team?

https://www.terraform.io/guides/core-workflow.html#working-as-a-team

153. What is the workflow when you work as a large organization?

https://www.terraform.io/guides/core-workflow.html#the-core-
workflow-enhanced-by-terraform-cloud

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154. What is the command init?

The terraform init command is used to initialize a working directory

containing Terraform configuration files.

This is the first command that should be run after writing a new
Terraform configuration or cloning an existing one from version
control.

It is safe to run this command multiple times.

155. You recently joined a team and you cloned a terraform configuration files from
the version control system. What is the first command you should use?

terraform init

This command performs several different initialization steps in

order to prepare a working directory for use.

This command is always safe to run multiple times, to bring the

working directory up to date with changes in the configuration.

Though subsequent runs may give errors, this command will never
delete your existing configuration or state.

If no arguments are given, the configuration in the current working

directory is initialized. It is recommended to run Terraform with
the current working directory set to the root directory of the
configuration, and omit the DIR argument.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/init.html

156. What is the flag you should use to upgrade modules and plugins a part of their
respective installation steps?

upgrade

terraform init -upgrade

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157. When you are doing initialization with terraform init, you want to skip
backend initialization. What should you do?

terraform init -backend=false

158. When you are doing initialization with terraform init, you want to skip child
module installation. What should you do?

terraform init -get=false

159. When you are doing initialization where do all the plugins stored?

On most operationg systems : ~/.terraform.d/plugins

on Windows : %APPDATA%\terraform.d\plugins

160. When you are doing initialization with terraform init, you want to skip plugin
installation. What should you do?

terraform init -get-plugins=false

Skips plugin installation. Terraform will use plugins installed in

the user plugins directory, and any plugins already installed for
the current working directory. If the installed plugins aren't
sufficient for the configuration, init fails.

161. What does the command terraform validate does?

The terraform validate command validates the configuration files in

a directory, referring only to the configuration and not accessing
any remote services such as remote state, provider APIs, etc.

Validate runs checks that verify whether a configuration is

syntactically valid and internally consistent, regardless of any
provided variables or existing state.

It is thus primarily useful for general verification of reusable

modules, including correctness of attribute names and value types.
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https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/validate.html

162. What does the command plan do?

The terraform plan command is used to create an execution plan.

Terraform performs a refresh, unless explicitly disabled, and then
determines what actions are necessary to achieve the desired state
specified in the configuration files.

163. What does the command apply do?

The terraform apply command is used to apply the changes required to

reach the desired state of the configuration, or the pre-determined
set of actions generated by a terraform plan execution plan.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/apply.html

164. You are applying the infrastructure with the command apply and you don’t
want to do interactive approval. Which flag should you use?

terraform apply -auto-approve

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/apply.html

165. What does the command destroy do?

The terraform destroy command is used to destroy the Terraform-

managed infrastructure.

166. How do you preview the behavior of the command terraform destroy?

terraform plan -destroy

167. What are implicit and explicit dependencies?

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Implicit dependency:

By studying the resource attributes used in interpolation

expressions, Terraform can automatically infer when one resource
depends on another.

Terraform uses this dependency information to determine the correct

order in which to create the different resources.

Implicit dependencies via interpolation expressions are the primary

way to inform Terraform about these relationships, and should be
used whenever possible.

Explicit dependency:

Sometimes there are dependencies between resources that are not

visible to Terraform. The depends_on argument is accepted by any
resource and accepts a list of resources to create explicit
dependencies for.

168. Give an example of implicit dependency?

In the example below, the reference to aws_instance.example.id

creates an implicit dependency on the aws_instance named example.

provider "aws" {

profile = "default"

region = "us-east-1"

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

ami = "ami-b374d5a5"

instance_type = "t2.micro"

resource "aws_eip" "ip" {

vpc = true

instance = aws_instance.example.id

169. Give an example of explicit dependency?

In the example below, an application we will run on our EC2 instance

expects to use a specific Amazon S3 bucket, but that dependency is
configured inside the application code and thus not visible to
Terraform. In that case, we can use depends_on to explicitly declare
the dependency

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resource "aws_s3_bucket" "example" {

bucket = "some_bucket"

acl = "private"

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

ami = "ami-2757f631"

instance_type = "t2.micro"

depends_on = [aws_s3_bucket.example]

170. How do you save the execution plan?

terraform plan -out=tfplan

you can use that file with apply

terraform apply tfplan

171. You have started writing terraform configuration and you are using some
sample configuration as a basis. How do you copy the example configuration into
your working directory?

terraform init -from-module=MODULE-SOURCE

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/init.html#copy-a-source-
module

172. What is the flag you should use with the terraform plan to get detailed on the
exit codes?

terraform plan -detailed-exitcode

Return a detailed exit code when the command exits. When provided,
this argument changes the exit codes and their meanings to provide
more granular information about what the resulting plan contains:

* 0 = Succeeded with empty diff (no changes)

* 1 = Error

* 2 = Succeeded with non-empty diff (changes present)

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173. How do you target only specific resources when you run a terraform plan?

-target=resource - A Resource Address to target. This flag can be

used multiple times. See below for more information.

174. How do you update the state prior to checking differences when you run a
terraform plan?

terraform plan -refresh=true

175. The behavior of any terraform destroy command can be previewed at any time
with an equivalent terraform plan -destroy command. Is this true?

True

176. You have the following file and created two resources docker_image and
docker_container with the command terraform apply and you go to the terminal
and delete the container with the command docker rm. You come back to your
configuration and run the command again. Does terraform recreates the resource?

1 resource "docker_image" "nginx" {

2 name = "nginx:latest"
3 keep_locally = false
4 }
5
6 resource "docker_container" "nginx" {
7 image = docker_image.nginx.latest
8 name = "nginxtutorial"
9 ports {
10 internal = 80
11 external = 8080
12 }
13 upload {
14 source = "${abspath(path.root)}/files/index.html"
15 file = "/usr/share/nginx/html/index.html"
16 }
17 }

i tf h t d ith ❤ b GitH b i
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main.tf
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main.tf

Yes. Terrsform creates the resource again since the execution plan
says two resources and the terraform always maintains the desired
state

177. You created a VM instance on AWS cloud provider with the terraform
configuration and you log in AWS console and removed the instance. What does the
next apply do?

It creates the instance again

178. You have the following file and created two resources docker_image and
docker_container with the command terraform plan and you go to the terminal and

delete the container with the command docker rm. You come back to your
configuration and run the command again. What is the output of the command
plan?

1 resource "docker_image" "nginx" {

2 name = "nginx:latest"
3 keep_locally = false
4 }
5
6 resource "docker_container" "nginx" {
7 image = docker_image.nginx.latest
8 name = "nginxtutorial"
9 ports {
10 internal = 80
11 external = 8080
12 }
13 upload {
14 source = "${abspath(path.root)}/files/index.html"
15 file = "/usr/share/nginx/html/index.html"
16 }
17 }

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Terraform will perform the following actions:

# docker_container.nginx will be created

Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.

Implement and maintain state

Practice questions based on these concepts

Describe default local backend

Outline state locking

Handle backend authentication methods

Describe remote state storage mechanisms and supported standard backends

Describe the effect of Terraform refresh on state

Describe backend block in configuration and best practices for partial

configurations

Understand secret management in state files

179. What are Backends?

A "backend" in Terraform determines how state is loaded and how an

operation such as apply is executed. This abstraction enables non-
local file state storage, remote execution, etc.

By default, Terraform uses the "local" backend, which is the normal

behavior of Terraform

180. What is local Backend?

The local backend stores state on the local filesystem, locks that
state using system APIs, and performs operations locally.

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// Example

terraform {

backend "local" {

path = "relative/path/to/terraform.tfstate"

181. What is the default path for the local backend?

This defaults to "terraform.tfstate" relative to the root module by

default.

182. What is State Locking?

If supported by your backend, Terraform will lock your state for all
operations that could write state. This prevents others from
acquiring the lock and potentially corrupting your state.

State locking happens automatically on all operations that could

write state. You won't see any message that it is happening. If
state locking fails, Terraform will not continue.

183. Does Terraform continue if state locking fails?

No.

If state locking fails, Terraform will not continue.

184. Can you disable state locking?

Yes.

You can disable state locking for most commands with the -lock flag
but it is not recommended.

185. What are the types of Backend?

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Standard: State management, functionality covered in State Storage &

Locking

Enhanced: Everything in standard plus remote operations.

186. What are remote Backends?

Remote backends allow Terraform to use a shared storage space for

state data, so any member of your team can use Terraform to manage
the same infrastructure.

187. What is the benefit of using remote backend?

Remote state storage makes collaboration easier and keeps state and
secret information off your local disk.

Remote state is loaded only in memory when it is used.

188. If you want to switch from using remote backend to local backend. What
should you do?

If you want to move back to local state, you can remove the backend
configuration block from your configuration and run terraform init
again.

Terraform will once again ask if you want to migrate your state back
to local.

189. What does the command refresh do?

The terraform refresh command is used to reconcile the state

Terraform knows about (via its state file) with the real-world
infrastructure.

This can be used to detect any drift from the last-known state, and
to update the state file.

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190. Does the command refresh modify the infrastructure?

The command refresh does not modify infrastructure, but does modify
the state file.

If the state is changed, this may cause changes to occur during the
next plan or apply.

191. How do you backup the state to the remote backend?

1. When configuring a backend for the first time (moving from no

defined backend to explicitly configuring one), Terraform will give
you the option to migrate your state to the new backend. This lets
you adopt backends without losing any existing state.

2. To be extra careful, we always recommend manually backing up your

state as well. You can do this by simply copying your
terraform.tfstate file to another location.

192. What is a partial configuration in terms of configuring Backends?

You do not need to specify every required argument in the backend

configuration. Omitting certain arguments may be desirable to avoid
storing secrets, such as access keys, within the main configuration.
When some or all of the arguments are omitted, we call this a
partial configuration.

193. What are the ways to provide remaining arguments when using partial
configuration?

Interactively: Terraform will interactively ask you for the required

values, unless interactive input is disabled. Terraform will not
prompt for optional values.

File: A configuration file may be specified via the init command

line. To specify a file, use the -backend-config=PATH option when
running terraform init. If the file contains secrets it may be kept
in a secure data store, such as Vault, in which case it must be
downloaded to the local disk before running Terraform.

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Command-line key/value pairs: Key/value pairs can be specified via

the init command line. Note that many shells retain command-line
flags in a history file, so this isn't recommended for secrets. To
specify a single key/value pair, use the -backend-config="KEY=VALUE"
option when running terraform init.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/backends/config.html

194. What is the basic requirement when using partial configuration?

When using partial configuration, Terraform requires at a minimum

that an empty backend configuration is specified in one of the root
Terraform configuration files, to specify the backend type

// Example

terraform {

backend "consul" {}

195. Give an example of passing partial configuration with Command-line

Key/Value pairs?

terraform init \

-backend-config="address=demo.consul.io" \

-backend-config="path=example_app/terraform_state" \

-backend-config="scheme=https"

196. How to unconfigure a backend?

If you no longer want to use any backend, you can simply remove the
configuration from the file. Terraform will detect this like any
other change and prompt you to reinitialize.

As part of the reinitialization, Terraform will ask if you'd like to

migrate your state back down to normal local state. Once this is
complete then Terraform is back to behaving as it does by default.

197. How do you encrypt sensitive data in the state?

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Terraform Cloud always encrypts state at rest and protects it with

TLS in transit. Terraform Cloud also knows the identity of the user
requesting state and maintains a history of state changes. This can
be used to control access and track activity. Terraform Enterprise
also supports detailed audit logging.

The S3 backend supports encryption at rest when the encrypt option

is enabled. IAM policies and logging can be used to identify any
invalid access. Requests for the state go over a TLS connection.

198. Backends are completely optional. Is this true?

Backends are completely optional. You can successfully use Terraform

without ever having to learn or use backends. However, they do solve
pain points that afflict teams at a certain scale. If you're an
individual, you can likely get away with never using backends.

199. What are the benefits of Backends?

Working in a team: Backends can store their state remotely and

protect that state with locks to prevent corruption. Some backends
such as Terraform Cloud even automatically store a history of all
state revisions.

Keeping sensitive information off disk: State is retrieved from

backends on demand and only stored in memory. If you’re using a
backend such as Amazon S3, the only location the state ever is
persisted is in S3.

Remote operations: For larger infrastructures or certain changes,

terraform apply can take a long, long time. Some backends support
remote operations which enable the operation to execute remotely.
You can then turn off your computer and your operation will still
complete. Paired with remote state storage and locking above, this
also helps in team environments.

200. Why should you be very careful with the Force unlocking the state?

Terraform has a force-unlock command to manually unlock the state if

unlocking failed.

Be very careful with this command. If you unlock the state when
someone else is holding the lock it could cause multiple writers.
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Force unlock should only be used to unlock your own lock in the
situation where automatic unlocking failed.

To protect you, the force-unlock command requires a unique lock ID.

Terraform will output this lock ID if unlocking fails. This lock ID
acts as a nonce, ensuring that locks and unlocks target the correct
lock.

201. You should only use force unlock command when automatic unlocking fails. Is
this true?

True

Read, generate, and modify the configuration

Practice questions based on these concepts

Demonstrate the use of variables and outputs

Describe secure secret injection best practice

Understand the use of the collection and structural types

Create and differentiate resource and data configuration

Use resource addressing and resource parameters to connect resources together

Use Terraform built-in functions to write configuration

Configure resource using a dynamic block

Describe built-in dependency management (order of execution based)

202. How do you define a variable?

variable "region" {

default = "us-east-1"

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This defines the region variable within your Terraform

configuration.

203. How do you access the variable in the configuration?

// accessing a variable

provider "aws" {

region = var.region

204. How many ways you can assign variables in the configuration?

Command-line flags

terraform apply -var 'region=us-east-1'

From a file

To persist variable values, create a file and assign variables

within this file. Create a file named terraform.tfvars with the
following contents:

region = "us-east-1"

terraform apply \

-var-file="secret.tfvars" \

-var-file="production.tfvars"

From environment varibles

Terraform will read environment variables in the form of TF_VAR_name

to find the value for a variable. For example, the TF_VAR_region
variable can be set in the shell to set the region variable in
Terraform.

UI input

If you execute terraform apply with any variable unspecified,

Terraform will ask you to input the values interactively. These
values are not saved, but this provides a convenient workflow when
getting started with Terraform. UI input is not recommended for
everyday use of Terraform.

205. Does environment variables support List and map types?

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No

Environment variables can only populate string-type variables. List

and map type variables must be populated via one of the other
mechanisms.

206. How do you provision infrastructure in a staging environment or a production

environment using the same Terraform configuration?

You can use different varible files with the same configuration

// Example

// For development

terraform apply -var-file="dev.tfvars"

// For test

terraform apply -var-file="test.tfvars"

207. How do you assign default values to variables?

If no value is assigned to a variable via any of these methods and

the variable has a default key in its declaration, that value will
be used for the variable.

variable "region" {

default = "us-east-1"

208. What are the data types for the variables?

string

number

bool

list(<TYPE>)

set(<TYPE>)

map(<TYPE>)

object({<ATTR NAME> = <TYPE>, ... })

tuple([<TYPE>, ...])

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209. Give an example of data type List variables?

Lists are defined either explicitly or implicitly.

variable "availability_zone_names" {

type = list(string)

default = ["us-west-1a"]

210. Give an example of data type Map variables?

variable "region" {}

variable "amis" {

type = map(string)

amis = {

"us-east-1" = "ami-abc123"

"us-west-2" = "ami-def456"

// accessing

resource "aws_instance" "example" {

ami = var.amis[var.region]

instance_type = "t2.micro"

211. What is the Variable Definition Precedence?

The above mechanisms for setting variables can be used together in

any combination. If the same variable is assigned multiple values,
Terraform uses the last value it finds, overriding any previous
values. Note that the same variable cannot be assigned multiple
values within a single source.

Terraform loads variables in the following order, with later sources

taking precedence over earlier ones:

* Environment variables

* The terraform.tfvars file, if present.

* The terraform.tfvars.json file, if present.

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* Any *.auto.tfvars or *.auto.tfvars.json files, processed in

lexical order of their filenames.

* Any -var and -var-file options on the command line, in the order
they are provided. (This includes variables set by a Terraform Cloud
workspace.)

212. What are the output variables?

output variables as a way to organize data to be easily queried and

shown back to the Terraform user.

Outputs are a way to tell Terraform what data is important. This

data is outputted when apply is called, and can be queried using the
terraform output command.

213. Hoe do you define an output variable?

output "ip" {

value = aws_eip.ip.public_ip

Multiple output blocks can be defined to specify multiple output

variables.

214. How do you view outputs and queries them?

You will see the output when you run the following command

terraform apply

You can query the output with the following command

terraform output ip

215. What are the dynamic blocks?

some resource types include repeatable nested blocks in their

arguments, which do not accept expressions

You can dynamically construct repeatable nested blocks like setting

using a special dynamic block type, which is supported inside

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resource, data, provider, and provisioner blocks:

A dynamic block acts much like a for expression, but produces nested
blocks instead of a complex typed value. It iterates over a given
complex value, and generates a nested block for each element of that
complex value.

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/expressions.html#dynamic
-blocks

1 resource "aws_elastic_beanstalk_environment" "tfenvtest" {

2 name = "tf-test-name"
3 application = "${aws_elastic_beanstalk_application.tftest.name}"
4 solution_stack_name = "64bit Amazon Linux 2018.03 v2.11.4 running Go 1.12.6"
5
6 dynamic "setting" {
7 for_each = var.settings
8 content {
9 namespace = setting.value["namespace"]
10 name = setting.value["name"]
11 value = setting.value["value"]
12 }
13 }
14 }

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example using dynamic blocks

216. What are the best practices for dynamic blocks?

Overuse of dynamic blocks can make configuration hard to read and

maintain, so we recommend using them only when you need to hide
details in order to build a clean user interface for a re-usable
module.

Always write nested blocks out literally where possible.

217. What are the Built-in Functions?

The Terraform language includes a number of built-in functions that

you can call from within expressions to transform and combine
values.

max(5, 12, 9)
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218. Does Terraform language support user-defined functions?

No

The Terraform language does not support user-defined functions, and

so only the functions built in to the language are available for
use.

219. What is the built-in function to change string to a number?

parseint parses the given string as a representation of an integer

in the specified base and returns the resulting number. The base
must be between 2 and 62 inclusive.

> parseint("100", 10)

100

More Number Functions here

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/functions/abs.html

220. What is the built-in function to evaluates given expression and returns a
boolean whether the expression produced a result without any errors?

can

condition = can(formatdate("", var.timestamp))

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/functions/can.html

221. What is the built-in function to evaluates all of its argument expressions in
turn and returns the result of the first one that does not produce any errors?

try

locals {

example = try(

[tostring(var.example)],

tolist(var.example),

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222. What is Resource Address?

A Resource Address is a string that references a specific resource

in a larger infrastructure. An address is made up of two parts:

[module path][resource spec]

223. What is the Module path?

A module path addresses a module within the tree of modules. It

takes the form:

module.A.module.B.module.C...

Multiple modules in a path indicate nesting. If a module path is

specified without a resource spec, the address applies to every
resource within the module. If the module path is omitted, this
addresses the root module.

224. What is the Resource spec?

A resource spec addresses a specific resource in the config. It

takes the form:

resource_type.resource_name[resource index]

* resource_type - Type of the resource being addressed.

* resource_name - User-defined name of the resource.

* [resource index] - an optional index into a resource with multiple

instances, surrounded by square brace characters ([ and ]).

// Examples

resource "aws_instance" "web" {

# ...

count = 4

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aws_instance.web[3] // Refers to only last instance

aws_instance.web // Refers to all four "web" instances.

resource "aws_instance" "web" {

# ...

for_each = {

"terraform": "value1",

"resource": "value2",

"indexing": "value3",

"example": "value4",

aws_instance.web["example"] // Refers to only the "example" instance

in the config.

225. What are complex types and what are the collection types Terraform supports?

A complex type is a type that groups multiple values into a single

value.

There are two categories of complex types:

collection types (for grouping similar values)

* list(...): a sequence of values identified by consecutive whole

numbers starting with zero.

* map(...): a collection of values where each is identified by a

string label.

* set(...): a collection of unique values that do not have any

secondary identifiers or ordering.

structural types (for grouping potentially dissimilar values).

* object(...): a collection of named attributes that each have their

own type.

* tuple(...): a sequence of elements identified by consecutive whole

numbers starting with zero, where each element has its own type.

226. What are the named values available and how do we refer to?

Terraform makes several kinds of named values available. Each of

these names is an expression that references the associated value;
you can use them as standalone expressions, or combine them with
other expressions to compute new values.
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* <RESOURCE TYPE>.<NAME> is an object representing a managed

resource of the given type and name. The attributes of the resource
can be accessed using dot or square bracket notation.

* var.<NAME> is the value of the input variable of the given name.

* local.<NAME> is the value of the local value of the given name.

* module.<MODULE NAME>.<OUTPUT NAME> is the value of the specified

output value from a child module called by the current module.

* data.<DATA TYPE>.<NAME> is an object representing a data resource

of the given data source type and name. If the resource has the
count argument set, the value is a list of objects representing its
instances. If the resource has the for_each argument set, the value
is a map of objects representing its instances.

* path.module is the filesystem path of the module where the

expression is placed.

* path.root is the filesystem path of the root module of the

configuration.

* path.cwd is the filesystem path of the current working directory.

In normal use of Terraform this is the same as path.root, but some
advanced uses of Terraform run it from a directory other than the
root module directory, causing these paths to be different.

* terraform.workspace is the name of the currently selected

workspace.

227. What is the built-in function that reads the contents of a file at the given path
and returns them as a base64-encoded string?

filebase64(path)

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/functions/filebase64.htm
l

228. What is the built-in function that converts a timestamp into a different time
format?

formatdate(spec, timestamp)

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/functions/formatdate.htm
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229. What is the built-in function encodes a given value to a string using JSON
syntax?

jsonencode({"hello"="world"})

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/functions/jsonencode.htm
l

230. What is the built-in function that calculates a full host IP address for a given
host number within a given IP network address prefix?

> cidrhost("10.12.127.0/20", 16)

10.12.112.16

https://www.terraform.io/docs/configuration/functions/cidrhost.html

Understand Terraform Cloud and Enterprise capabilities

Practice questions based on these concepts

Describe the benefits of Sentinel, registry, and workspaces

Differentiate OSS and Terraform Cloud workspaces

Summarize features of Terraform Cloud

231. What is Sentinel?

Sentinel is an embedded policy-as-code framework integrated with the

HashiCorp Enterprise products. It enables fine-grained, logic-based
policy decisions, and can be extended to use information from
external sources.

232. What is the benefit of Sentinel?

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Codifying policy removes the need for ticketing queues, without

sacrificing enforcement.

One of the other benefits of Sentinel is that it also has a full

testing framework.

Avoiding a ticketing workflow allows organizations to provide more

self-service capabilities and end-to-end automation, minimizing the
friction for developers and operators.

https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/why-policy-as-code/

233. What is the Private Module Registry?

Terraform Cloud's private module registry helps you share Terraform

modules across your organization. It includes support for module
versioning, a searchable and filterable list of available modules,
and a configuration designer to help you build new workspaces
faster.

234. What is the difference between public and private module registries when
defined source?

The public registry uses a three-part <NAMESPACE>/<MODULE

NAME>/<PROVIDER> format

private modules use a four-part <HOSTNAME>/<ORGANIZATION>/<MODULE

NAME>/<PROVIDER> format

// example

module "vpc" {

source = "app.terraform.io/example_corp/vpc/aws"

version = "1.0.4"

235. Where is the Terraform Module Registry available at?

https://registry.terraform.io/

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236. What is a workspace?

A workspace contains everything Terraform needs to manage a given

collection of infrastructure, and separate workspaces function like
completely separate working directories.

237. What are the benefits of workspaces?

https://www.hashicorp.com/resources/terraform-enterprise-
understanding-workspaces-and-modules/

238. You are configuring a remote backend in the terraform cloud. You didn’t create
an organization before you do terraform init. Does it work?

While the organization defined in the backend stanza must already

exist,

239. You are configuring a remote backend in the terraform cloud. You didn’t create
a workspace before you do terraform init. Does it work?

Terraform Cloud will create it if necessary. If you opt to use a

workspace that already exists, the workspace must not have any
existing states.

240. Terraform workspaces when you are working with CLI and Terraform
workspaces in the Terraform cloud. Is this correct?

If you are familiar with running Terraform using the CLI, you may
have used Terraform workspaces. Terraform Cloud workspaces behave
differently than Terraform CLI workspaces. Terraform CLI workspaces
allow multiple state files to exist within a single directory,
enabling you to use one configuration for multiple environments.
Terraform Cloud workspaces contain everything needed to manage a
given set of infrastructure, and function like separate working
directories.

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241. How do you authenticate the CLI with the terraform cloud?

Newer Versions:

1. terraform login

2. it will open the terraform cloud and generate the token

3. paste that token back in the CLI

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/tfc/tfc_login

Older versions:

keep the following token in the CLI configuration file

credentials "app.terraform.io" {

token = "xxxxxx.atlasv1.zzzzzzzzzzzzz"

https://www.terraform.io/docs/commands/cli-config.html#credentials

242. You are building infrastructure on your local machine and you changed your
backend to remote backend with the Terraform cloud. What should you do to
migrate the state to the remote backend?

terraform init

Once you have authenticated the remote backend, you're ready to

migrate your local state file to Terraform Cloud. To begin the
migration, reinitialize. This causes Terraform to recognize your
changed backend configuration.

During reinitialization, Terraform presents a prompt saying that it

will copy the state file to the new backend. Enter "yes" and
Terraform will migrate the state from your local machine to
Terraform Cloud.

https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/tfc/tfc_migration#migrate-the-
state-file

243. How do you configure remote backend with the terraform cloud?

You need to configure in the terraform block

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terraform {

backend "remote" {

hostname = "app.terraform.io"

organization = "<YOUR-ORG-NAME>"

workspaces {

name = "state-migration"

244. What is Run Triggers?

Terraform Cloud’s run triggers allow you to link workspaces so that

a successful apply in a source workspace will queue a run in the
workspace linked to it with a run trigger.

For example, adding new subnets to your network configuration could

trigger an update to your application configuration to rebalance
servers across the new subnets.

245. What is the benefit of Run Triggers?

When managing complex infrastructure with Terraform Cloud,

organizing your configuration into different workspaces helps you to
better manage and design your infrastructure.

Configuring run triggers between workspaces allows you to set up

infrastructure pipelines as part of your overall deployment
strategy.

246. What are the available permissions that terraform clouds can have?

Terraform Cloud teams can have read, plan, write, or admin

permissions on individual workspaces.

247. Who can grant permissions on the workspaces?

Organization owners grant permissions by grouping users into teams

and giving those teams priviliges based on their need for access to
individual workspaces.
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248. Which plan do you need to manage teams on Terraform cloud?

Team Plan

249. How can you add users to an organization?

You can add users to an organization by inviting them using their

email address.

Even if your team member has not signed up for Terraform Cloud yet,
they can still accept the invitation and create a new account.

250. The Terraform Cloud Team plan charges you on a per-user basis. Is this true?

Yes. The Terraform Cloud Team plan is charged on a per-user basis so

adding new users to your organization incurs cost.

Conclusion
The Terraform associate exam is multiple-choice, multiple answers, text-based, exam.
These sample questions definitely help you prepare for the certification. I would
recommend you go through the documentation first and then refer to this afterward or
right before the exam.

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