A Must-Read Guide to Terraform Certification Exam

A comprehensive Terraform certification exam preparation manual with a detailed overview of resources, study materials, and exam tips. 

Cloud computing development has led to various associate technologies. Terraform is a software tool with a high demand for experienced or learned professionals. A Terraform Certification is the best way to prove your mettle in this technology domain.

However, it raises a lot of questions.

How do you get certified? Where do you look for study materials? How can you excel in the exam? Read the article to get these answers. But first, let’s look at the basics.

What is Terraform?

Terraform, developed by HashiCorp, is an open-source Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) software tool. DevOps engineers use it for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently.

Terraform supports multiple cloud infrastructure providers like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud, DigitalOcean, VMware, OpenStack, and Yandex. Cloud. 

The Terraform tool can be used in the following ways:

• Write code using HCL or JSON.
• Deduce a plan by running the code and checking its suitability.
• Implement final changes to multiple providers and build the desired configuration state.

Terraform as a career option

In 2022, the shift to the cloud will affect more than $1.3 trillion in enterprise IT spending. This provides us with a fair idea about the widespread adoption of the cloud and the increasing demand for related technology experts, like, Terraform professionals.

To showcase their expertise in this field, Cloud engineers can obtain a Terraform certificate through the Terraform Associate certification exam from HashiCorp.

HashiCorp Infrastructure Automation Certification Exam

The Terraform Associate certification by HashiCorp is for Cloud Computing Engineers specializing in operations, development, or IT. The knowledge of basic concepts and skills associated with open source HashiCorp Terraform is a must-have.

Prerequisites for the exam

• Basic terminal skills
• Understanding of cloud and on-premises architecture

Product version tested

• Terraform 1.0 and higher

Exam details

Exam Objectives

• Understand infrastructure as code (IaC) concepts
• Understand Terraform’s purpose (vs. other IaC)
• Understand Terraform basics
• Can use the Terraform CLI
• Interact with Terraform modules
• Navigate Terraform workflow
• Implement and maintain state
• Read, generate and modify the configuration
• Understand Terraform Cloud and Enterprise capabilities

Before you start searching for free and paid courses, terraform online training, tutorials, and practice test, do read on. Here’s a compilation of the best resources available:

1. Guides and articles

   1. HashiCorp Learn

Visit HashiCorp Learn for the OG guide that lists terraform training resources you should study to prepare for the Terraform Associate Certification exam. This preparation guide is divided into three sections:

• Study Guide
• Sample Questions
• Exam Review

2. Practice tests

   1. “HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate Practice Test” is a book. It contains 116 unique practice questions and answers to help you prepare for the Terraform Associate exam. Each question in this book is linked to more content on the internet where you can find further information.

   2. You can find a comprehensive repository of practice questions for the Terraform Associate Certification Exam on various online platforms. With almost 200 unique questions, it is a good source to test your knowledge on various Terraform questions.

Important Tips and Tricks

• Develop a basic understanding of at least one public cloud provider such as AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.
• Hand-on experience with any cloud provider is highly recommended. You can start with AWS.
• You should understand declarative programming since terraform uses a declarative approach toward provisioning infrastructure.
• The documentation provided in the Exam Study Guide and Exam Review Guide is very important.
• Learn about the benefits of Terraform to the system operators and developers. Try to Understand the importance of IaC.
• If you don’t have real-time experience with Terraform, install Terraform on your local machine and start using it.
• Memorize the important file names used in the Terraform configuration, such as plugin cache directory, terraform state file name, etc.
• This exam is fast-paced as one has to complete 57 questions in 60 minutes.

• You can highlight questions and come back later if they take longer than you think.

Conclusion

The cloud has revolutionized how businesses store, process, and utilize data. A multi-cloud strategy seems to be the preferred mode for companies. In an environment like this, mastering Terraform as a skill can be highly beneficial for Cloud professionals. The resources discussed in the article will help you pursue Terraform Certification with the best training.