TF-004 Use the core Terraform workflow Practice Question
A company uses Terraform Cloud and wants to enforce policies that prevent creating resources with public IP addresses unless explicitly approved. What Terraform Cloud feature should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mistake in Terraform Cloud is confusing Sentinel policies with run tasks. Run tasks are for integrating external tools (like security scanners), not for enforcing custom governance rules. Sentinel is the built-in policy-as-code engine.
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
✓
Sentinel policies
Sentinel is HashiCorp's policy-as-code framework that integrates directly with Terraform Cloud. It allows you to define fine-grained, logic-based policies (e.g., 'deny resources with public IPs unless a specific approval tag is present') that are enforced during the plan phase before any resources are created. This is the correct feature for enforcing custom governance rules on infrastructure provisioning.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Sentinel policies
Why this is correct
Sentinel is HashiCorp's policy-as-code framework, deeply integrated with Terraform Cloud to enforce governance rules. It allows organizations to define granular policies that evaluate Terraform plans and states, preventing non-compliant infrastructure changes before they are applied. Policies can enforce various rules, such as mandatory tagging, allowed AWS regions, or resource size limits, ensuring compliance and security.
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VCS integration
Why it's wrong here
Version Control System (VCS) integration in Terraform Cloud connects workspaces to a Git repository, enabling automatic run triggers upon code commits. While essential for managing infrastructure-as-code and automating the deployment pipeline, VCS integration itself is solely responsible for source code management and initiating Terraform runs, not for evaluating or enforcing compliance policies on the infrastructure defined by that code.
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Workspaces
Why it's wrong here
Workspaces in Terraform Cloud serve as isolated environments for managing distinct sets of infrastructure or different stages of a project (e.g., dev, staging, prod). They encapsulate state files, variables, and run history, providing logical separation. However, workspaces are organizational units; they do not possess built-in capabilities to define, evaluate, or enforce policy-as-code rules against the infrastructure they manage.
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Run tasks
Why it's wrong here
Run tasks in Terraform Cloud allow users to integrate external tools and custom scripts into the Terraform run lifecycle, executing them at specific phases like `plan` or `apply`. While useful for custom validations, security scans, or notifications, run tasks are designed for extending functionality with external systems. They are not the native, declarative policy-as-code framework for enforcing governance within Terraform Cloud; Sentinel fulfills that specific role.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This TF-004 practice question is part of Courseiva's free HashiCorp certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the TF-004 exam.