HashiCorp HashiCorp Certifications TERRAFORM-ASSOCIATE-003 Questions & Answers

• Question 1:

  Which of the following is not a key principle of infrastructure as code?

  A. Self-describing infrastructure

  B. Idempotence

  C. Versioned infrastructure

  D. Golden images

  Correct Answer: D

  The key principle of infrastructure as code that is not listed among the options is golden images. Golden images are pre-configured, ready-to-use virtual machine images that contain a specific set of software and configuration. They are often used to create multiple identical instances of the same environment, such as for testing or production. However, golden images are not a principle of infrastructure as code, but rather a technique that can be used with or without infrastructure as code. The other options are all key principles of infrastructure as code, as explained below: Self-describing infrastructure: This means that the infrastructure is defined in code that describes its desired state, rather than in scripts that describe the steps to create it. This makes the infrastructure easier to understand, maintain, and reproduce. Idempotence: This means that applying the same infrastructure code multiple times will always result in the same state, regardless of the initial state. This makes the infrastructure consistent and predictable, and avoids errors or conflicts caused by repeated actions. Versioned infrastructure: This means that the infrastructure code is stored in a version control system, such as Git, that tracks the changes and history of the code. This makes the infrastructure code reusable, auditable, and collaborative, and enables practices such as branching, merging, and rollback. References = [Introduction to Infrastructure as Code with Terraform], [Infrastructure as Code in a Private or Public Cloud]

• Question 2:

  Which of the following ate advantages of using infrastructure as code (laC) instead of provisioning with a graphical user interface (GUI)? Choose two correct answers.

  A. Lets you version, reuse, and share infrastructure configuration

  B. Provisions the same resources at a lower cost

  C. Secures your credentials

  D. Reduces risk of operator error

  E. Prevents manual modifications to your resources

  Correct Answer: AD

  It lets you version, reuse, and share infrastructure configuration as code files, which can be stored in a source control system and integrated with your CI/CD pipeline.

  It reduces risk of operator error by automating repetitive tasks and ensuring consistency across environments. IaC does not necessarily provision resources at a lower cost, secure your credentials, or prevent manual modifications to your

  resources - these depend on other factors such as your cloud provider, your security practices, and your access policies.

• Question 3:

  You should run terraform fnt to rewrite all Terraform configurations within the current working directory to conform to Terraform-style conventions.

  A. True

  B. False

  Correct Answer: A

  You should run terraform fmt to rewrite all Terraform configurations within the current working directory to conform to Terraform-style conventions. This command applies a subset of the Terraform language style conventions, along with other minor adjustments for readability. It is recommended to use this command to ensure consistency of style across different Terraform codebases. The command is optional, opinionated, and has no customization options, but it can help you and your team understand the code more quickly and easily. References = : Command: fmt : Using Terraform fmt Command to Format Your Terraform Code

• Question 4:

  You ate making changes to existing Terraform code to add some new infrastructure. When is the best time to run terraform validate?

  A. After you run terraform apply so you can validate your infrastructure

  B. Before you run terraform apply so you can validate your provider credentials

  C. Before you run terraform plan so you can validate your code syntax

  D. After you run terraform plan so you can validate that your state file is consistent with your infrastructure

  Correct Answer: C

  This is the best time to run terraform validate, as it will check your code for syntax errors, typos, and missing arguments before you attempt to create a plan. The other options are either incorrect or unnecessary.

• Question 5:

  Why does this backend configuration not follow best practices?

  

  A. An alias meta-argument should be included in backend blocks whenever possible

  B. You should use the local enhanced storage backend whenever possible

  C. You should not store credentials in Terraform configuration

  D. The backend configuration should contain multiple credentials so that more than one user can execute terraform plan and terraform apply

  Correct Answer: C

  This is a bad practice, as it exposes your credentials to anyone who can access your configuration files or state files. You should use environment variables, credential files, or other mechanisms to provide credentials to Terraform.

• Question 6:

  Module variable assignments are inherited from the parent module and you do not need to explicitly set them.

  A. True

  B. False

  Correct Answer: B

  Module variable assignments are not inherited from the parent module and you need to explicitly set them using the source argument. This allows you to customize the behavior of each module instance.

• Question 7:

  Terraform configuration can only import modules from the public registry.

  A. True

  B. False

  Correct Answer: B

  Terraform configuration can import modules from various sources, not only from the public registry. Modules can be sourced from local file paths, Git repositories, HTTP URLs, Mercurial repositories, S3 buckets, and GCS buckets. Terraform supports a number of common conventions and syntaxes for specifying module sources, as documented in the [Module Sources] page. References = [Module Sources]

• Question 8:

  terraform validate confirms that your infrastructure matches the Terraform state file.

  A. True

  B. False

  Correct Answer: B

  terraform validate does not confirm that your infrastructure matches the Terraform state file. It only checks whether the configuration files in a directory are syntactically valid and internally consistent3. To confirm that your infrastructure matches the Terraform state file, you need to use terraform plan or terraform apply with the -refresh- only option.

• Question 9:

  You cannot install third party plugins using terraform init.

  A. True

  B. False

  Correct Answer: B

  You can install third party plugins using terraform init, as long as you specify the plugin directory in your configuration or as a command-line argument. You can also use the terraform providers mirror command to create a local mirror of providers from any source.

• Question 10:

  As a member of an operations team that uses infrastructure as code (lac) practices, you are tasked with making a change to an infrastructure stack running in a public cloud. Which pattern would follow laC best practices for making a change?

  A. Make the change via the public cloud API endpoint

  B. Clone the repository containing your infrastructure code and then run the code

  C. Use the public cloud console to make the change after a database record has been approved

  D. Make the change programmatically via the public cloud CLI

  E. Submit a pull request and wait for an approved merge of the proposed changes

  Correct Answer: E

  You do not need to use different Terraform commands depending on the cloud provider you use. Terraform commands are consistent across different providers, as they operate on the Terraform configuration files and state files, not on the provider APIs directly.