60+ Terraform Interview Questions & Answers – Basics, Deployment, Cloud Providers

Terraform Interview Questions: Terraform is a popular tool for managing infrastructure as code. It allows you to define and provision various cloud resources using a declarative language called HCL. Terraform can also automate the deployment and configuration of your applications across different environments. If you are preparing for a job interview that involves Terraform, you might want to review some common questions and topics that could come up. In this article, we will provide you with some sample Terraform interview questions and answers, as well as some tips on how to ace your interview.

Also Read: 50+ Managerial Round Interview Questions

60+ Terraform Interview Questions & Answers

As more and more companies turn to Terraform for infrastructure management, the demand for skilled professionals with Terraform expertise is on the rise. If you’re looking to land a job in this field, it’s important to prepare for the Terraform interview process.

To help you prepare, we’ve compiled a list of common Terraform interview questions and answers, broken down by category.

Terraform Basics

What is Terraform?

Terraform is an open-source tool developed by HashiCorp that enables you to create, manage, and version infrastructure as code.

What is infrastructure as code?

Infrastructure as code (IaC) is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure using code, rather than manual processes.

How does Terraform differ from other IaC tools?

Terraform is unique in that it allows you to manage multiple providers, including AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, using a single configuration file.

What is a Terraform module?

A Terraform module is a set of reusable infrastructure code that can be used to provision resources across multiple projects.

Terraform Deployment

How do you deploy infrastructure using Terraform?

To deploy infrastructure using Terraform, you define your desired state in a configuration file, and then run the “terraform apply” command to create or modify the resources.

How do you handle state management in Terraform?

Terraform uses a state file to keep track of the current state of your infrastructure. This file should be stored remotely, using a tool like Terraform Cloud or S3.

Terraform Providers

What is a Terraform provider?

A Terraform provider is a plugin that enables Terraform to manage resources in a particular cloud provider or service.

How do you create a custom Terraform provider?

To create a custom Terraform provider, you need to define the API for the provider and implement the necessary functions to interact with the provider’s API.

Terraform Best Practices

What are some best practices for using Terraform?

Best practices for using Terraform include using modules, versioning your code, using remote state, and following the principle of least privilege.

How do you manage secrets in Terraform?

Secrets should never be stored in your Terraform configuration files. Instead, you should use a tool like HashiCorp Vault to store and manage secrets.

Terraform Architecture

What is the architecture of a Terraform project?

A Terraform project typically consists of a main configuration file, which defines the desired state of the infrastructure, and one or more module files, which contain reusable code for provisioning resources.

How do you structure your Terraform code?

You should structure your Terraform code into modules, using a directory structure that makes it easy to find and reuse code.

Terraform and Other IaC Tools

How does Terraform compare to other IaC tools, like Ansible or Puppet?

Terraform is focused specifically on infrastructure management, while Ansible and Puppet are more focused on configuration management.

Can Terraform be used with Ansible or Puppet?

Yes, Terraform can be used in combination with other IaC tools like Ansible or Puppet to manage both infrastructure and configuration.

Terraform and Cloud Providers

How does Terraform work with AWS?

Terraform has a provider for AWS that allows you to manage resources like EC2 instances, S3 buckets, and RDS databases.

How does Terraform work with Google Cloud?

Terraform has a provider for Google Cloud that allows you to manage resources like Compute Engine instances, Cloud Storage buckets, and Bigtable clusters.

Terraform AWS Interview Questions

Following are the Terraform Interview Questions related to AWS

• What is the difference between AWS Provider and AWS Resource in Terraform?
• How does Terraform integrate with AWS services?
• What are the benefits of using Terraform for AWS infrastructure provisioning?
• Can you explain the AWS VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) in Terraform?
• How does Terraform manage IAM (Identity and Access Management) roles and policies in AWS?
• What is the role of an EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instance in Terraform?
• How does Terraform handle AWS Autoscaling groups?
• What is the difference between an ELB (Elastic Load Balancer) and an ALB (Application Load Balancer)?
• How does Terraform manage AWS Lambda functions and API Gateway?

Terraform Google Cloud Interview Questions

Following are the Terraform Interview Questions related to Google Cloud

• What is the difference between GCP Provider and GCP Resource in Terraform?
• How does Terraform integrate with Google Cloud services?
• What are the benefits of using Terraform for Google Cloud infrastructure provisioning?
• Can you explain the GCP VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) in Terraform?
• How does Terraform manage IAM (Identity and Access Management) roles and policies in Google Cloud?
• What is the role of a GCE (Google Compute Engine) instance in Terraform?
• How does Terraform handle Google Cloud Autoscaling groups?
• How does Terraform manage Google Cloud Functions and Cloud Run?

Terraform Azure Interview Questions

Following are the Terraform Interview Questions related to Azure

• What is the difference between Azure Provider and Azure Resource in Terraform?
• How does Terraform integrate with Azure services?
• What are the benefits of using Terraform for Azure infrastructure provisioning?
• Can you explain the Azure Virtual Network in Terraform?
• How does Terraform manage IAM (Identity and Access Management) roles and policies in Azure?
• What is the role of an Azure Virtual Machine in Terraform?
• How does Terraform handle Azure Autoscaling groups?
• What is the difference between Azure Load Balancer and Azure Application Gateway?

25+ Terraform Interview Questions for Practice

If you are preparing for a Terraform interview, you might want to review some of the common questions that you may encounter. Here is a list of 30 Terraform interview questions:

1. What are the benefits of using Terraform over other tools like Ansible, Chef, or Puppet?
2. What are the main components of Terraform and how do they interact with each other?
3. What is the difference between Terraform state and Terraform plan?
4. How do you initialize a Terraform project and what files are created by the terraform init command?
5. How do you define and use variables in Terraform?
6. How do you use modules in Terraform and what are the advantages of modularizing your code?
7. How do you use data sources in Terraform and what are some examples of data sources that you have used or can use?
8. How do you use providers in Terraform and what are some examples of providers that you have used or can use?
9. How do you use output values in Terraform and what are some use cases for them?
10. How do you use functions in Terraform and what are some examples of functions that you have used or can use?
11. How do you use conditional expressions in Terraform and what are some examples of conditional expressions that you have used or can use?
12. How do you use loops in Terraform and what are some examples of loops that you have used or can use?
13. How do you use resource dependencies in Terraform and what are some examples of resource dependencies that you have used or can use?
14. How do you use resource attributes in Terraform and what are some examples of resource attributes that you have used or can use?
15. How do you use resource meta-arguments in Terraform and what are some examples of resource meta-arguments that you have used or can use?
16. How do you use local values in Terraform and what are some examples of local values that you have used or can use?
17. How do you use terraform console in Terraform and what are some examples of commands that you have used or can use in the console?
18. How do you use terraform import in Terraform and what are some examples of resources that you have imported or can import using this command?
19. How do you use terraform taint and terraform untaint in Terraform and what are some examples of resources that you have tainted or untainted using these commands?
20. How do you use terraform graph in Terraform and what are some examples of graphs that you have generated or can generate using this command?
21. How do you use terraform workspace in Terraform and what are some examples of workspaces that you have created or can create using this command?
22. How do you use terraform backend in Terraform and what are some examples of backends that you have configured or can configure using this feature?
23. How do you use terraform state commands in Terraform and what are some examples of state commands that you have used or can use to manipulate the state file?
24. How do you use terraform validate and terraform fmt commands in Terraform and what are some examples of validation and formatting errors that these commands can detect or fix?
25. How do you use terraform apply command in Terraform and what are some options or flags that you have used or can use with this command?
26. How do you use terraform destroy command in Terraform and what are some options or flags that you have used or can use with this command?
27. How do you handle errors or failures in Terraform and what are some examples of errors or failures that you have encountered or can encounter while using Terraform?
28. How do you debug or troubleshoot issues in Terraform and what are some tools or techniques that you have used or can use to debug or troubleshoot issues in Terraform?
29. How do you test or verify your Terraform code and what are some tools or frameworks that you have used or can use to test or verify your Terraform code?
30. How do you write documentation for your Terraform code and what are some best practices or guidelines that you follow or can follow to write documentation for your Terraform code?

To answer these questions, you should have a good understanding of the Terraform concepts, commands, syntax, best practices, and use cases. You should also be able to demonstrate your skills by writing or reviewing some Terraform code snippets. You can refer to the official Terraform documentation, blogs, tutorials, courses, or books to prepare for your Terraform interview.