TF-004 Use Terraform outside the core workflow Practice Question
A CI/CD pipeline runs 'terraform plan' and needs to automatically approve only if no resources will be destroyed. Which approach should be used?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Run 'terraform plan -out=plan.tfplan', then 'terraform show -json plan.tfplan' and parse the output for destroy actions.
'terraform plan -out=plan.tfplan' generates a plan file, and 'terraform show -json plan.tfplan' outputs it in JSON format, which can be parsed to detect destroy actions. If no destroy actions are present, the pipeline can proceed to apply. Option A is wrong because 'terraform apply -auto-approve' would apply any changes without checking for destroys. Option B is wrong because 'terraform plan -destroy' always shows a destroy plan, not a way to detect destroys in a normal plan. Option C is wrong because 'terraform fmt' only formats code, not checks for destroys. Option D is wrong because 'terraform validate' only checks syntax, not planned changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Run 'terraform apply -auto-approve' after a successful plan.
Why it's wrong here
Running 'terraform apply -auto-approve' immediately executes the planned changes without requiring any manual confirmation. While it automates the application process, it does not provide a mechanism to detect or specifically flag resources that will be destroyed as part of the plan. This approach bypasses the critical human review step that would typically identify and prevent unintended infrastructure destruction. Therefore, it is unsuitable for automatically detecting destroy actions before they occur.
- ✗
Run 'terraform plan -destroy' and check the exit code.
Why it's wrong here
The 'terraform plan -destroy' command explicitly generates a plan that aims to destroy all managed resources, regardless of the current configuration. Its purpose is to show what would happen if all infrastructure were to be torn down, not to detect if a standard 'terraform plan' would result in destroy actions due to configuration changes. Checking its exit code would only confirm that a destroy plan was generated, not whether an unintended destroy is present in a normal update plan.
- ✗
Run 'terraform fmt' to check for formatting issues.
Why it's wrong here
'terraform fmt' is a utility designed exclusively to rewrite Terraform configuration files to a canonical format. Its function is purely stylistic, ensuring consistency in code layout and indentation across a project. This command does not interact with the Terraform state, generate execution plans, or analyze any potential infrastructure changes. Consequently, it provides no information whatsoever regarding planned resource creations, updates, or, critically, destructions.
- ✗
Run 'terraform validate' to ensure no destroys are needed.
Why it's wrong here
The 'terraform validate' command performs checks on the configuration files in the current directory to ensure they are syntactically valid and internally consistent. It verifies attribute names, argument types, and module configurations against the provider schemas. However, 'terraform validate' does not interact with the remote state or generate an execution plan, meaning it cannot predict or report on any resource changes, including destructions, that would occur during an 'apply'.
- ✓
Run 'terraform plan -out=plan.tfplan', then 'terraform show -json plan.tfplan' and parse the output for destroy actions.
Why this is correct
This is the correct and recommended approach for programmatically inspecting a Terraform plan for specific actions. First, 'terraform plan -out=plan.tfplan' saves the detailed execution plan to a binary file. Subsequently, 'terraform show -json plan.tfplan' converts this binary plan into a machine-readable JSON format. This JSON output contains a comprehensive breakdown of all proposed changes, including resource creations, updates, and crucially, destructions, which can then be parsed by a CI/CD pipeline to detect and flag any destroy actions.
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