11 Most Asked Terraform Interview Questions & Answers [For Freshers]

Terraform is a tool used for building, changing, and developing the infrastructure of the datacenter. In this article, we will help you understand the top terraform interview questions and answers.

Check out our free courses to get an edge over the competition.

Top Terraform Interview Questions & Answers

1. Why is Terraform Used for DevOps?

Ans- Terraform is a versatile tool used for developing the infrastructure with the help of a suitable coding structure. It helps to have control over complete orchestration, much like puppet and ansible.

Terraform works efficiently and has an excellent structure and supports all the major cloud providers like GCP, Azure, AWS etc.

It can be easily managed as it has a dynamic infrastructure, in which the configuration can be changed smoothly. Also, it can be changed from one provider to another with ease.

With proper installation and use of all the APIs, it can be operated on the masterless and the client-only architecture mainframe.

Check out upGrad’s Advanced Certification in Cyber Security

2. How does Terraform Work?

Ans- The basic explanation approach that you choose will be the foundation of which the next line of interview questions would be formulated. It is best to have a simplistic approach and cover all the major parts by beginning with the stages of terraform lifecycle namely

terraform apply, terraform init, terraform plan, and terraform destroy.

Then start by explaining them specifically,

Terraform init is implemented in the initial stage to create an operational directory that contains all the Terraform configuration file details

Also read: Learn Java Free!

Terraform plan, as the name suggests, is to implement an execution strategy that will be implemented at a certain stage of development. It is an important aspect as it will be the judging parameter to ensure whether the expectations are met.

Terraform apply will ensure that the plan is set in motion in the selected time-frame to reach the required planned state of the infrastructure.

Terraform destroy is the last stage where this feature is used to eliminate all the applied resources.

Check out upGrad’s Advanced Certification in  Cloud Computing and DevOps 

 3. What are the Noteworthy Applications that Make Terraform Useful?

Ans- The use cases are an important aspect of terraform interview questions. In a general context, the applications are quite notable and broad due to the abilities to terraform.

The applications are –

• Self-service clusters
• Development of multi-tier applications
• Creation of environments
• Resource scheduling
• Developing demo for a software
• Heroku app setup

4. Explain the Functioning Parameters for terraform Core?

Ans- The core is the most crucial part of the terraform architecture, as it is mainly responsible for monitoring the configurations, also creating evaluations based on them. Once the program plan commences the core uploads, all the data from the disk and recent known sources are uploaded.

After execution, the terraform core compares the current and previous versions and displays the results with the help of the terminal for further application.

Terraform state and terraform configuration are the main inputs that are sent towards the terraform core. Configurations keep track of the details that are required for infrastructure, and the state keeps track of the status of the infrastructure.

5. What are the Effective Ways that can be Implemented to Lock Terraform Module Versions?

Ans- The best effective method is to use a terraform module registry as a source and then provide the relating attributes to the terraform configuration file as a version. This version will lock the terraform module.

 6. What are the Steps Involved in Finding the Plugins, and What is the Difference in Characteristics Related to Them?

Ans- When the terraform init commands the configuration, files would be processed and will be used in identifying the plugins that require attention.

After searching selectively for the plugins, the installation path and the location is checked for validation, and it is ensured that the right plugin version is used. Then terraform writes a lock file that will initiate the process where the same plugins are used when terraform init command runs.

 There are three main characteristics in which the plugins behave.

• They use providers, where the plugins are downloaded spontaneously and are not installed even after being downloaded to the mainframe.
• They use built-in provisioners, where the plugins are always in order and implemented in the terraform binary structure.
• They use manually installed plugins where the locally developed providers are used.

upGrad’s Exclusive Software and Tech Webinar for you –

SAAS Business – What is So Different?

 7. What is the Meaning of Terragrunt?

Ans- Terragrunt is a covering layer that is used to cover terraform and is thin in nature. This layer helps to implement the practices that are advocated and vetted under terraform. Terragrunt helps to write codes on Terraform, but as mentioned, it is a one-time thing. This eliminates the need to write codes for every structure of the environment and deletes the duplicate code.

It has quite a few features like lifecycle, and it also adds flexibility while using terraform as it supports a continuous deployment process. 

 8. How to Ignore the Error Duplicate Resource During Terraform Apply?

Ans- Solutions can differentiate depending on requirements

You can delete the resources from the terraform code to stop managing them.

You can delete the resources from the API and recreate them by implementing terraform.

Perform an importing action to remove the resources and eliminate the code that is attempting to recreate them.

 9. Tell Us About Some of the Terraform CLI Commands and their Functions?

Ans- Init- The init command is used to initiate the process which is included in terraform.

Get- The command helps to chart a path to a mentioned module that can be triggered as and when required.

Graph- Using the CLI command, you can create a visual representation of the configuration.

Validate- This command is used as validation for the respective configuration file if they are syntactically consistent.

Fmt- configuration files with a different set of format and style are rewritten with this command.

Learn Software Development Courses online from the World’s top Universities. Earn Executive PG Programs, Advanced Certificate Programs, or Masters Programs to fast-track your career.

 10. What is a Resource Graph in Terraform?

Ans- It is a visual representation of the resources, and it helps create and modify the independent resources simultaneously. Terraform will create a plan for configuring the graph to refresh state, generate plans, etc. The resource graph is used to create the structure most effectively and efficiently, and it helps to understand the drawbacks of the infrastructure.

11. What is the Remote Backend in Terraform?

Ans- Remote backend is an extension that is used to state the status of terraform and also run the operations of the terraform cloud. This backend operation has several commands to carry out all the operations of Terraform. The remote function can work on a single cloud workspace to be able to access multiple fronts for executing remote applications like a plan or apply.

Summary

Terraform is a vast and extensive topic that requires systematic effort to learn. To have a better chance of acing the interview, its best to keep experimenting and exploring the platform. It is always advised to understand the terraform interview questions and answers rather than learning them.

upGrad specialises in training students in their academic process and also over their interview presentation skills. Learning DevOps can become an easier process with upGrad, with case studies, interactive learning, and evaluation system become an expert through the Advanced Certificate Programme in DevOps and AI from IIIT Bangalore. Start the learning process today!