TF-003 Understand Terraform basics Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Match each Terraform provisioner to its typical use case.

Question 2

A developer runs terraform apply to create an AWS EC2 instance using an AMI sourced from the aws_ami data source with most_recent = true. Immediately after apply completes, the developer runs terraform plan again. The plan shows that Terraform intends to replace the EC2 instance. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

A new AMI was released after the apply, causing the data source to return a different AMI ID.. The data source with most_recent = true fetches the latest AMI each time plan runs. If a new AMI is released after the apply, the AMI ID changes, forcing replacement of the EC2 instance because the AMI change requires resource replacement.

Answer

The developer did not run terraform init before the second plan.

Answer

The instance type was changed in the configuration between apply and plan.

Answer

The Terraform state file was corrupted during the apply.

Question 3

A team is using Terraform to manage infrastructure across multiple environments (dev, test, prod). They want to reuse the same configuration but vary resource configurations like instance size and number of instances. Which Terraform feature should they use?

Accepted Answer

Terraform modules with variables. Terraform modules with variables allow you to define reusable infrastructure and pass environment-specific variable values. This is the recommended approach for code reuse across environments.

Answer

Separate directories with symlinks

Answer

Remote backends with different state files

Answer

Terraform workspaces

Question 4

A company has a monolithic Terraform configuration that manages all infrastructure. As the infrastructure grows, plan and apply times become very long. They want to break the configuration into smaller, independent units to improve performance and reduce blast radius. Which approach should they take?

Accepted Answer

Split the configuration into separate root modules, each with its own state file, and use data sources to share outputs. Splitting into separate root modules, each with its own state file, and using data sources to share outputs, is the recommended approach for reducing blast radius and improving performance. This allows independent plan/apply cycles and smaller state files.

Answer

Refactor into multiple Terraform modules and use a single root module

Answer

Use Terraform workspaces to separate environments

Answer

Use terraform state mv to reorganize resources into different state files

Question 5

A developer is new to Terraform and wants to understand the purpose of the terraform init command. Which statement correctly describes its primary function?

Accepted Answer

It initializes the local environment by downloading the required provider plugins and modules.. terraform init initializes the working directory by downloading the required provider plugins, modules, and setting up the backend. It is the first command run after writing or cloning a Terraform configuration.

Answer

It checks the syntax of all configuration files.

Answer

It compares the state file with real infrastructure.

Answer

It creates the initial configuration for a new Terraform project.

Question 6

A developer accidentally deletes the local terraform.tfstate file. The backend is configured to store state remotely in an S3 bucket. What is the effect on Terraform operations?

Accepted Answer

Terraform will automatically recover the state from the remote backend on the next plan or apply.. When using a remote backend, Terraform stores state in the remote location. The local file is not required; Terraform will fetch the state from the remote backend on the next plan or apply.

Answer

Terraform will create a new empty state file, losing all existing managed resources.

Answer

Terraform will fail with an error because the local state is missing.

Answer

Terraform will prompt the user to confirm whether to use the remote state.

Question 7

A team uses Terraform with a remote backend that stores state in Azure Storage. A developer runs terraform apply and receives an error: 'Error refreshing state: state data in Azure Blob does not have expected content.' What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The state file was manually edited.. This error indicates that the state file has been corrupted or tampered with. Common causes include manual editing of the state file or a failed state operation.

Answer

The Azure Storage account access key has expired.

Answer

The blob name contains uppercase letters.

Answer

The Terraform version is incompatible with the backend.

Question 8

A developer wants to use the output of one Terraform configuration as input to another. Which Terraform feature should they use?

Accepted Answer

remote state data source. The terraform_remote_state data source reads outputs from another Terraform state file, allowing cross-configuration data sharing.

Answer

local values

Answer

data sources

Answer

variables

Question 9

A Terraform configuration uses a module from the Terraform Registry. The module's documentation states it requires Terraform version >= 0.14. The team is using Terraform 0.12. What should the developer do to use this module?

Accepted Answer

Upgrade Terraform to a supported version.. Modules from the Registry often specify required Terraform versions. Using an older version may lead to syntax errors or missing features. The correct action is to upgrade Terraform to a supported version.

Answer

Fork the module and modify it to be compatible.

Answer

Add a version constraint in the module block to pin to an older compatible version.

Answer

Use the module as-is; the version requirement is only a recommendation.

Question 10

A developer runs terraform plan and sees a large number of resources will be destroyed. They suspect the state file is corrupted. They have a recent backup of the state file. Which command can help recover the previous state from the backup?

Accepted Answer

terraform state push. The terraform state push command uploads a local state file to the remote backend, overwriting the current state. This can be used to restore a backup.

Answer

No command can recover; they must re-import all resources.

Answer

terraform state rm

Answer

terraform state pull

Question 11

Which two of the following are correct statements about Terraform providers?

Accepted Answer

Providers are plugins that Terraform uses to manage resources.. Providers are plugins that manage resources for a specific cloud or service. They are sourced from the Terraform Registry or other locations. The correct statements are A and C.

Answer

A provider must be defined in every Terraform configuration.

Answer

Only one provider can be used per configuration.

Answer

Providers are automatically installed by terraform plan.

Question 12

Which three of the following are valid ways to pass variable values to a Terraform configuration?

Accepted Answer

Using the -var flag on the command line.. Valid methods include using a .tfvars file, environment variables with TF_VAR_ prefix, and the -var flag on the command line. The -var-file flag is also valid, but only three are listed as correct here; the -assign flag and YAML file are not supported.

Answer

Using the -assign flag on the command line.

Answer

Using a YAML file.

Question 13

Which three of the following are true regarding Terraform state?

Accepted Answer

State can be stored in a local file or remotely.. State contains resource metadata and dependencies, is required for Terraform to map configuration to real infrastructure, and can be stored locally or remotely. It is not required to be named terraform.tfstate, and manual editing is risky.

Answer

State can be manually edited with a text editor without risk.

Answer

State must be stored in a file named terraform.tfstate.

Question 14

Refer to the exhibit. What will happen when terraform plan is run?

Accepted Answer

It will fail with an error about missing required argument.. The aws_s3_bucket resource requires a bucket name argument. Without it, Terraform will return an error indicating a missing required argument.

Answer

It will prompt for the bucket name.

Answer

It will create a bucket with a random name.

Answer

It will succeed because bucket name can be generated automatically.

Question 15

Refer to the exhibit. What does this output indicate?

Accepted Answer

There is one resource managed by Terraform in this state.. The output shows a single resource address in the state file, meaning there is one managed resource of type aws_instance with name web.

Answer

The state file contains multiple resources.

Answer

The resource is not in the state.

Answer

The configuration has a resource named web.