Terraform’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past few months. It supports different cloud providers like supports AWS, Azure, Oracle, and many more.
Do you want to know about Terraform, how will it benefit you and why should you get Terraform Certified?
In this blog we will talk about:
- What is Terraform
- Why Terraform?
- Who HashiCorp Infrastructure Automation Certification is For?
- Prerequisites
- Exam Details
- Course Outline
- Activity Guides
- Registration
- Sample Questions
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Terraform?
Terraform is a tool to build an infrastructure safely and efficiently. Terraform can manage leading and popular service providers as well as custom in-house solutions.
The Configuration file in Terraform describes the components needed to run a single application or your entire datacenter. Terraform then generates an execution plan describing what it will do to reach the desired state, and then executes it to build the described infrastructure. It creates incremental execution plans which can be applied according to the configuration change.
Infrastructure as Code: Infrastructure is described using a high-level configuration syntax, in case of terraform we use HCL or JSON. This allows a design/blueprint of your datacenter to be versioned. Additionally, infrastructure can be changed according to the need and re-used.
Also check: Types of Terraform Variables
Why Terraform?
There are a lot of IaC (Infrastructure as Code) tools available in the market like Terraform, Chef, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack, CloudFormation, and OpenStack Heat. The main problem comes while choosing which one to pick for the automation of your cloud resources. Here are the things you should consider before choosing which tool is the best:
- Configuration management versus provisioning
- Mutable infrastructure versus immutable infrastructure
- Procedural language versus declarative language
- Master versus masterless
- Agent versus agentless
- Large community versus small community
- Mature versus cutting-edge
Terraform is an open-source, cloud-agnostic provisioning tool that supported immutable infrastructure, a declarative language, a masterless and agentless architecture, and had a large community and a mature codebase.
The average salary for a Terraform Associate is $105,144/yr as of some resources. This is above the national average of $44,564. Hence, a Terraform Associate makes 163% more than the national average salary!
Check out: How to Install Terraform in Linux, Mac, Windows
Who HashiCorp Infrastructure Automation Certification Is For?
The Terraform Associate certification is for Cloud Engineers specializing in operations, IT, or developers who know the basic concepts and skills associated with open source HashiCorp Terraform. Candidates will be best prepared for this exam if they have professional experience using Terraform in production, but performing the exam objectives in a personal demo environment may also be sufficient. This person understands which enterprise features exist and what can and cannot be done using the open-source offering.
Prerequisites
- Basic terminal skills
- Basic understanding of on-premises and cloud architecture
Exam Details (HashiCorp Infrastructure Automation Certification)
Assessment Type: Multiple choice
Format: Online proctored
Duration: 1 hour
Price: $70.50 USD plus locally applicable taxes and fees
Language: English
Expiration: 2 years
About The Exam
The exam itself is a combination of true/false, multiple-choice, and multi-select questions. It is not a practical exam where you are presented with a command line and a task. The exam is administered with a remote proctor, which means you’ll need a webcam and a clear workspace. It is a pass/fail type exam, so you’ll need to get a certain amount of questions right to pass. Just like any modern exam, you get the results immediately after taking the exam.
Standard Rules As Provided By HashiCorp
- You are alone in the room
- Your work area and desk should be clear
- You are connected to a power source
- No phones or headphones
- No dual monitors
- Do not leave your seat
- No talking
- Webcam, speakers, and microphone must remain on throughout the test
- The proctor must be able to see you for the duration of the test
Also read: Our blog post on Terraform Tutorial. Click here
Course Outline
- Understand infrastructure as code (IaC) concepts
- Explain what IaC is
- Describe the advantages of IaC patterns
- Understand Terraform’s purpose (vs other IaC)
- Explain multi-cloud and provider-agnostic benefits
- Explain the benefits of state
- Understand Terraform basics
- Handle Terraform and provider installation and versioning
- Describe plugin-based architecture
- Demonstrate using multiple providers
- Describe how Terraform finds and fetches providers
- Explain when to use and not use provisioners and when to use local-exec or remote-exec
- Use the Terraform CLI (outside of core workflow)
- Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform fmt to format code
- Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform taint to taint Terraform resources
- Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform import to import existing infrastructure into your Terraform state
- Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform workspace to create workspaces
- Given a scenario: choose when to use terraform state to view Terraform state
- Given a scenario: choose when to enable verbose logging and what the outcome/value is
- Interact with Terraform modules
- Contrast module source options
- Interact with module inputs and outputs
- Describe variable scope within modules/child modules
- Discover modules from the public Terraform Module Registry
- Defining module version
- Navigate Terraform workflow
- Describe Terraform workflow ( Write -> Plan -> Create )
- Initialize a Terraform working directory (terraform init)
- Validate a Terraform configuration (terraform validate)
- Generate and review an execution plan for Terraform (terraform plan)
- Execute changes to infrastructure with Terraform (terraform apply)
- Destroy Terraform managed infrastructure (terraform destroy)
- Implement and maintain state
- Describe default local backend
- Outline state locking
- Handle backend authentication methods
- Describe remote state storage mechanisms and supported standard backends
- Describe the effect of Terraform refresh on state
- Describe backend block in configuration and best practices for partial configurations
- Understand secret management in state files
- Read, generate, and modify the configuration
- Demonstrate the use of variables and outputs
- Describe secure secret injection best practice
- Understand the use of the collection and structural types
- Create and differentiate resource and data configuration
- Use resource addressing and resource parameters to connect resources together
- Use Terraform built-in functions to write configuration
- Configure resource using a dynamic block
- Describe built-in dependency management (order of execution based)
- Understand Terraform Cloud and Enterprise capabilities
Also Check: Our blog post on Terraform Workflow. Click here
Activity Guides ^
The Terraform exam has a lot of Hands-On questions, so you need to go through the Hands-On labs. We have a list of Hands-On labs in our training, which covers the basic as well as advanced Terraform concepts.
To know more about Hands-On, please check our blogs on Terraform Activity Guides.
Here is the list of our activity guides:
- Register For a Free Azure Cloud Account
- Installing Terraform with Azure
- Create A Resource Group
- Define Input & Output Variables
- DataSources
- Dynamic Blocks
- Provisioners – local-exec, remote-exec, file
- Remote State with Azure Storage Account
- Terraform Modules
- Create & Manage Workspaces
- Terraform CLI Commands
- Configuring Codespaces & Azure Cloud Shell
- Create a Virtual Network & Virtual Machine
Registration
Register for the exam from the official HashiCorp website.
Sample Questions
You can check the sample questions of Terraform Associate Certification from here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Terraform Associate certification?
The Terraform Associate certification is a professional credential offered by HashiCorp, validating the expertise of individuals in using Terraform for infrastructure automation and management.
Who is this certification designed for?
This certification is designed for IT professionals, cloud engineers, DevOps engineers, and anyone involved in managing infrastructure and applications in the cloud or on-premises using Terraform.
What are the prerequisites for the Terraform Associate certification exam?
There are no specific prerequisites for taking the Terraform Associate exam. However, having some hands-on experience with Terraform and basic understanding of infrastructure concepts will be beneficial.
How do I prepare for the Terraform Associate certification exam?
To prepare for the exam, you can review official documentation, take online courses, practice with Terraform in a lab environment, and consider using practice exams to assess your readiness.
What topics are covered in the Terraform Associate certification exam?
The exam covers various topics, including Terraform installation and configuration, resource management, provisioning, data sources, remote state management, and best practices for writing Terraform code.
How long is the Terraform Associate certification valid?
The Terraform Associate certification is valid for two years from the date you pass the exam. After that period, you may need to renew the certification through additional assessments.
Can I take the Terraform Associate exam online, or is it an in-person test?
The availability of online or in-person exams may vary depending on the certification provider and exam delivery options. Check with the official certification provider for the most up-to-date information.
Is the Terraform Associate certification recognized globally?
Yes, the Terraform Associate certification is recognized and respected worldwide, making it a valuable addition to your professional credentials, regardless of your location.
Can I retake the Terraform Associate exam if I don't pass it on my first attempt?
Yes, you can retake the exam if you do not pass on your first try. However, there may be a waiting period and an additional fee for retaking the exam. It's essential to review your certification provider's policies for retakes.
Join FREE Class
🚀 Master Terraform & DevOps to get High-Paying Jobs! 🔥 Join our EXCLUSIVE Free class! 🚀
Get your hands dirty with lots of projects and labs based on Terraform and DevOps in our Program.Click on the below image to Register for Our FREE Class Now!
Noel Reed says
What is the cost for the Terraform Certification training? Is there a night class a couple of week (Monday thru Friday) that is available?
Rahul Dangayach says
Ho Noel,
I would suggest you attend a 60-90 mins free masterclass where we cover everything like what to expect and everything you need is covered inside this program.
Please check the link below to register for the same:
https://k21academy.com/tf02
For more information on the course please email us at contact@k21academy.com and the team will help you.
Thanks and Regards
Rahul Dangayach
Team K21 Academy