What is the primary purpose of storing Terraform state in a remote backend instead of on a local machine?

To eliminate the need for state locking because remote storage prevents concurrent modifications.

To enable multiple team members to access and update the same state file from a shared location.

To encrypt the state file so that sensitive data is never stored in plain text.

To automatically apply changes to infrastructure without requiring a plan or apply step.

A team is considering moving from local state to a remote backend. They are concerned about losing the ability to see the history of changes to their infrastructure. Which remote state feature addresses this concern?

Workspaces, which allow you to manage multiple environments

Remote state data sources, which allow you to read outputs from other configurations

State versioning, which allows you to see and restore previous state versions

State locking, which prevents concurrent modifications

During terraform init, what happens when Terraform detects an existing local state and a new remote backend?

It prompts the user to copy the existing state to the new backend.

It creates a new empty state in the remote backend and ignores the local state.

It automatically deletes the local state file.

It fails with an error and requires manual state migration.

A team has been using local state and now wants to migrate to a new S3 backend. They have already added the backend block to their configuration. When they run terraform init, they see a prompt asking whether to copy existing state to the new backend. What should they do to proceed with the migration?

Run terraform apply first to push the state manually

Type 'yes' to copy the local state to the new backend

Type 'no' to keep the local state and continue using it

Press Ctrl+C to cancel and run terraform init -migrate-state

HashiCorp Certified:Terraform Authoring and Operations Professional

Domain 3Objective 2

3b TERRAFORM-AUTHORING-AND-OPERATIONS-PROFESSIONAL Practice Questions (Page 5)

Part of the Develop collaborative Terraform workflows domain, which makes up ~16% of our current practice bank. HashiCorp does not publish an official question count, but from its 240-minute exam (~95–160 total, ~15–26 in this domain), expect 4–7 from this objective — we provide 26 practice questions to prepare you well beyond it. (estimate)

26questions here

6free pages

8concepts

Questions 21–25

21foundation · medium
Which data source is used to read outputs from another Terraform configuration's remote state?
Select an answer first
22foundation · medium
What is the primary purpose of storing Terraform state in a remote backend instead of on a local machine?
Select an answer first
23application · easy
A team is considering moving from local state to a remote backend. They are concerned about losing the ability to see the history of changes to their infrastructure. Which remote state feature addresses this concern?
Select an answer first
24foundation · medium
During terraform init, what happens when Terraform detects an existing local state and a new remote backend?
Select an answer first
25application · easy
A team has been using local state and now wants to migrate to a new S3 backend. They have already added the backend block to their configuration. When they run terraform init, they see a prompt asking whether to copy existing state to the new backend. What should they do to proceed with the migration?
Select an answer first

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3b TERRAFORM-AUTHORING-AND-OPERATIONS-PROFESSIONAL Practice Questions (Page 5)

Questions 21–25

Which data source is used to read outputs from another Terraform configuration's remote state?

What is the primary purpose of storing Terraform state in a remote backend instead of on a local machine?

A team is considering moving from local state to a remote backend. They are concerned about losing the ability to see the history of changes to their infrastructure. Which remote state feature addresses this concern?

During terraform init, what happens when Terraform detects an existing local state and a new remote backend?

Keep studying — Develop collaborative Terraform workflows