What does Terraform display before asking for approval during an interactive `terraform apply`?

The output of the last successful apply

An execution plan showing what will be added, changed, or destroyed

A list of all available providers and their versions

A list of all resources in the state file

A terraform apply fails after creating a new EC2 instance but before updating the state file. The error is 'Error: Error applying IAM policy: AccessDenied'. The instance was created successfully. What is the best way to recover?

Run terraform destroy to remove the instance and start over.

Run terraform refresh to update the state, then re-run apply.

Fix the IAM permissions and re-run terraform apply; Terraform will resume and update state for the created instance.

Manually add the instance to the state file using terraform import.

A team manages a large infrastructure with hundreds of resources. They run terraform apply and the plan shows that a single security group rule will be added. After approving, the apply completes successfully. However, a subsequent terraform plan shows an unexpected change to an unrelated S3 bucket. What is the most likely cause?

The state file was corrupted during the apply, causing incorrect plan output.

The S3 bucket was modified outside of Terraform, causing drift that is now detected in the plan.

The apply of the security group rule caused the S3 bucket to be recreated.

The S3 bucket change was present in the original plan but was hidden by the -target flag.

Why is it important that the state file is updated after `terraform apply`?

To provide a backup of the configuration files

To speed up the next apply by skipping resource creation

To ensure future plans are based on the actual infrastructure

To store the output values for later use

A configuration defines a VPC, a subnet, and an EC2 instance. The team wants to replace only the EC2 instance with a new AMI while leaving the VPC and subnet untouched. They run terraform apply -target=aws_instance.web. What is the expected behavior of this command?

Terraform applies changes to the instance and then automatically applies changes to the VPC and subnet to keep them consistent.

Terraform destroys the instance and recreates it, but also destroys and recreates the VPC and subnet because they are in the same configuration.

Terraform plans and applies changes only to the targeted instance and its dependent resources, leaving the VPC and subnet unchanged.

Terraform refuses to run because -target cannot be used with resources that have dependencies.

HashiCorp Certified:Terraform Associate

Domain 3Objective 5

3e Apply Changes to Infrastructure with Terraform TERRAFORM-ASSOCIATE-004 Practice Questions (Page 3)

Part of the Core Terraform workflow domain, which makes up ~20% of our current practice bank. HashiCorp does not publish an official question count, but from its 60-minute exam (~25–40 total, ~5–8 in this domain), expect 1–1 from this objective — we provide 30 practice questions to prepare you well beyond it. (estimate)

30questions here

6free pages

10concepts

Questions 11–15

11foundation · easy
What does Terraform display before asking for approval during an interactive `terraform apply`?
Select an answer first
12expert · hard
A terraform apply fails after creating a new EC2 instance but before updating the state file. The error is 'Error: Error applying IAM policy: AccessDenied'. The instance was created successfully. What is the best way to recover?
Select an answer first
13expert · hard
A team manages a large infrastructure with hundreds of resources. They run terraform apply and the plan shows that a single security group rule will be added. After approving, the apply completes successfully. However, a subsequent terraform plan shows an unexpected change to an unrelated S3 bucket. What is the most likely cause?
Select an answer first
14foundation · easy
Why is it important that the state file is updated after `terraform apply`?
Select an answer first
15application · medium
A configuration defines a VPC, a subnet, and an EC2 instance. The team wants to replace only the EC2 instance with a new AMI while leaving the VPC and subnet untouched. They run terraform apply -target=aws_instance.web. What is the expected behavior of this command?
Select an answer first

Finished these 5 questions?

Review the revealed explanations, or continue through the curriculum.

Next 5 questions →Back to TERRAFORM-ASSOCIATE-004

Free Basic Practice is a study aid with revealable answers — not a scored exam. Examers.io is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by HashiCorp. “TERRAFORM-ASSOCIATE-004” is a trademark of its owner, used for identification only.