DoonopsEdTech
Language

Certification Prep · Lesson 30 of 30

Terraform Associate Exam Guide

Source: doonops-curriculum/certification.md

Doonops lesson

Goal

Prepare for HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate — format, domains, and practice-style questions.

Simple explanation

The exam is multiple-choice, online proctored, ~1 hour. You need Terraform workflow, HCL, state, modules, and cloud basics — not every AWS service.

HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (TA-003)

~60 minutes · Multiple choice — single answer, multiple answer, text match (platform dependent)

Passing score set by HashiCorp — check official exam page before booking.

Exam domains (study weight)

Terraform basics & workflow~20%
  • init
  • plan
  • apply
  • destroy
  • fmt
  • validate
  • workspace basics
Interact with Terraform configuration~45%
  • providers
  • resources
  • variables
  • outputs
  • data sources
  • depends_on
  • count
  • for_each
  • lifecycle
Interact with Terraform modules~20%
  • module source
  • inputs/outputs
  • public registry
  • version constraints
Navigate Terraform workflow~15%
  • state purpose
  • remote backend
  • sensitive values
  • import
  • taint (legacy concepts)

Question formats

  • Single select — One correct answer — most common
  • Multi select — Choose 2–3 correct options — read "choose two" carefully
  • Scenario — Given HCL snippet — what happens after plan/apply?

Sample questions (practice)

1. Which command creates an execution plan without changing infrastructure?

  • terraform apply
  • terraform plan
  • terraform init
  • terraform refresh

2. What does terraform init do? (choose two)

  • Downloads provider plugins
  • Formats HCL files
  • Initializes backend
  • Deletes state

3. Which block declares the AWS region for all resources in a module?

  • resource "aws_region"
  • provider "aws"
  • variable "region"
  • terraform

4. When should you use for_each instead of count?

  • When resources are identical
  • When each instance needs a distinct key/map entry
  • When state is remote
  • Never

5. Where should team state be stored for collaboration?

  • Local terraform.tfstate on laptop
  • Remote backend (e.g. S3 + lock)
  • README.md
  • .gitignore

Exam tips

  • Practice terraform plan output — know create/update/destroy symbols (+ ~ -)
  • Memorize difference: variable vs local vs output vs data source
  • Understand when resource is recreated (name change, force replacement)
  • Official: developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/tutorials/certification-associate