Study guide for HashiCorp's Associate Terraform

Exam objectives

1 Understand infrastructure as code (IaC) concepts

1a Explain what IaC is

1b Describe advantages of IaC patterns

2 Understand the purpose of Terraform (vs other IaC)

2a Explain multi-cloud and provider-agnostic benefits

2b Explain the benefits of state

3 Understand Terraform basics

3a Install and version Terraform providers

3b Describe plugin-based architecture

3c Write Terraform configuration using multiple providers

3d Describe how Terraform finds and fetches providers

4 Use Terraform outside of core workflow

4a Describe when to use terraform import to import existing infrastructure into your Terraform state

4b Use terraform state to view Terraform state

4c Describe when to enable verbose logging and what the outcome/value is

5 Interact with Terraform modules

5a Contrast and use different module source options including the public Terraform Module Registry

5b Interact with module inputs and outputs

5c Describe variable scope within modules/child modules

5d Set module version

6 Use the core Terraform workflow

6a Describe Terraform workflow ( Write -> Plan -> Create )

6b Initialize a Terraform working directory (terraform init)

6c Validate a Terraform configuration (terraform validate)

6d Generate and review an execution plan for Terraform (terraform plan)

6e Execute changes to infrastructure with Terraform (terraform apply)

6f Destroy Terraform managed infrastructure (terraform destroy)

6g Apply formatting and style adjustments to a configuration (terraform fmt)

7 Implement and maintain state

7a Describe default local backend

7b Describe state locking

7c Handle backend and cloud integration authentication methods

7d Differentiate remote state back end options

7e Manage resource drift and Terraform state

7f Describe backend block and cloud integration in configuration

7g Understand secret management in state files

8 Read, generate, and modify configuration

8a Demonstrate use of variables and outputs

8b Describe secure secret injection best practice

8c Understand the use of collection and structural types

8d Create and differentiate resource and data configuration

8e Use resource addressing and resource parameters to connect resources together

8f Use HCL and Terraform functions to write configuration