AWS provider Practice Test 6 — 10 Questions

Question 1

You need to ensure that a resource is always recreated if an associated data source value changes. Which meta-argument supports this?

Accepted Answer

replace_triggered_by. The replace_triggered_by meta-argument forces Terraform to destroy and recreate the resource whenever any of the referenced attributes or resources change, including data source values. It is designed exactly for the scenario where a resource must be replaced based on an external or computed value rather than a direct attribute reference. When the referenced value changes between plans, Terraform marks the resource for replacement.

Answer

create_before_destroy

Answer

lifecycle_hooks

Answer

prevent_destroy

Question 2

Your organization has a Sentinel policy with enforcement level 'soft-mandatory' that checks for required tags on AWS resources. During a run, the policy fails because an EC2 instance is missing the 'Environment' tag. The workspace allows users with write access to override policies. What is the immediate outcome of the run?

Accepted Answer

The run is paused and a user with appropriate permissions can choose to override the policy and continue the apply.. When a soft-mandatory Sentinel policy fails, the run pauses and users with override permissions can choose to bypass the policy and continue. This allows for exceptions while still enforcing governance. Hard-mandatory policies cannot be overridden, and advisory policies do not block. The scenario specifies soft-mandatory, so the run is paused for possible override.

Answer

The policy failure is logged as an advisory and the run continues automatically without any intervention.

Answer

The run fails immediately and cannot be overridden, requiring the configuration to be fixed and a new run to be queued.

Answer

The run is canceled and the workspace is locked until the policy is updated to pass.

Question 3

You want to trigger a run only when a specific file within a module path changes. How do you configure this?

Accepted Answer

Use the 'VCS Triggers' setting in the workspace.. HCP Terraform (formerly Terraform Cloud) workspaces support VCS Triggers, which let you specify file or directory paths so that a run is only queued when changes are detected in those paths. This is the native mechanism for path-based run triggering tied to version control commits.

Answer

Use a 'trigger_path' variable in the Terraform code.

Answer

Modify the '.terraform-version' file.

Answer

Use a Sentinel policy to filter changes.

Question 4

You have two resources, A and B. You want B to be replaced whenever A is updated. How do you configure B?

Accepted Answer

In resource B, set lifecycle { replace_triggered_by = [resource_a] }. The replace_triggered_by meta-argument in resource B's lifecycle block specifies that B should be replaced when resource A changes. This directly ties B's replacement to A's updates, ensuring B is recreated whenever A is updated.

Answer

In resource B, set lifecycle { create_before_destroy = [resource_a] }

Answer

In resource A, set lifecycle { triggers = [resource_b] }

Answer

In resource B, set depends_on = [resource_a]

Question 5

Which of the following are true regarding the .terraform.lock.hcl file? (Select TWO)

Accepted Answer

It is automatically generated by terraform init.. Option A is correct because the .terraform.lock.hcl dependency lock file is automatically created and updated by the `terraform init` command when it installs providers, recording the exact provider versions and checksums selected. Option E is correct because HashiCorp recommends committing the .terraform.lock.hcl file to version control so that all team members and CI/CD pipelines use the same provider versions and verified checksums, ensuring reproducible runs. Option B is incorrect because Terraform state is stored in the state file (terraform.tfstate or a configured remote backend), not in the lock file. Option C is incorrect because the lock file is normally generated and updated automatically by Terraform commands such as `terraform init` and `terraform providers lock`, though it can be edited manually if needed. Option D is incorrect because the lock file stores provider version constraints and cryptographic hashes, not secret credentials, which should never be placed in it.

Answer

It is used to store the state file.

Answer

It can only be edited manually.

Answer

It stores secret credentials.

Question 6

You want to use a module that is hosted in a private GitHub repository. Which authentication method should Terraform use to access it?

Accepted Answer

Use the same credentials that 'git clone' would use for that repository.. Terraform's module source supports Git URLs and delegates authentication to the underlying Git client. For a private GitHub repository, Terraform uses the same credentials that 'git clone' would use, such as SSH keys, a credential helper, or a personal access token configured in '~/.netrc' or Git config.

Answer

The module must be public for Terraform to access it.

Answer

Terraform requires a special 'git_token' variable in the module block.

Answer

Embed your GitHub password in the source URL.

Question 7

Which function is most useful when you have a nested list of objects and want to create a single flat list to iterate over with for_each?

Accepted Answer

flatten(). The flatten() function takes a nested list (list of lists) and returns a single flat list containing all elements. When you have a nested list of objects and want to iterate with for_each, flatten() collapses the nesting so each object becomes a top-level element that for_each can key on. This is the idiomatic Terraform pattern for iterating over nested collections.

Answer

concat()

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lookup()

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merge()

Question 8

When a module is updated, how do you ensure that all environments using this module get the update?

Accepted Answer

Run 'terraform init -upgrade' to fetch the latest version allowed by the constraints.. Terraform modules sourced from a registry or VCS are cached locally after the first 'terraform init'. To pull a newer version that satisfies the version constraint in the module block, you must run 'terraform init -upgrade', which re-resolves the version and downloads the latest allowed release. Without this flag, Terraform reuses the cached module even if a newer version exists, so environments won't pick up the update.

Answer

The module updates automatically on every 'apply'.

Answer

Delete the state file and re-run apply.

Answer

Restart the Terraform CLI process.

Question 9

You are defining an input variable for a Terraform module that will accept a list of AWS subnet IDs. You want to ensure that the variable only accepts a list of strings and that it is required. Which variable declaration correctly achieves this?

Accepted Answer

variable "subnet_ids" { type = list(string) }. The correct variable declaration uses type = list(string) and does not provide a default, making it a required variable. This ensures that callers must supply a list of strings. The other options either make the variable optional, use a different collection type, or use a scalar type, all of which fail to meet the specified requirements.

Answer

variable "subnet_ids" { type = set(string) }

Answer

variable "subnet_ids" { type = list(string) default = [] }

Answer

variable "subnet_ids" { type = string }

Question 10

What is the recommended approach for managing a module that has grown too large?

Accepted Answer

Break the module into smaller, focused sub-modules.. Breaking a large module into smaller, focused sub-modules is the recommended approach because it improves reusability, testability, and blast-radius control. Each sub-module encapsulates a single logical concern (e.g., networking, compute, IAM), making plans faster and state operations safer. Terraform's module composition model is designed for this kind of decomposition, and refactoring can be done with 'moved' blocks to avoid destroying resources.

Answer

Use 'terraform import' to split the resources.

Answer

Combine all files into a single 'main.tf'.

Answer

Rename the module to something more generic.