HashiCorp Terraform Associate (004) Exam Prep

What you will be able to do

• Explain infrastructure as code and Terraform's purpose and architecture
• Run the core Terraform workflow: init, plan, apply, and destroy
• Manage state safely, including remote backends and locking
• Write reusable configuration with variables, outputs, and modules
• Use provisioners, functions, and expressions appropriately
• Apply HCP Terraform collaboration and governance features
• Pass a timed practice exam against the current exam objectives

What is inside

5 modules, 20 lessons. Each module ends in a graded quiz.

1. 01

   Why Infrastructure as Code, and What Terraform Is

   Covers the first two HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate (004) domains, Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and Terraform fundamentals, which ask you to explain infrastructure as code concepts and the purpose of Terraform compared with other tools. You will work through drift, repeatability, and the delivery loop that makes codified infrastructure safe, then place Terraform precisely against configuration management and cloud native template languages. The module closes on the mechanics every later objective depends on, namely providers, the registry, version constraints, the dependency lock file, and a first initialization.

   4 lessons · 15 quiz questions

2. 02

   The Core Terraform Workflow

   Covers the Terraform Associate (004) domain Core Terraform workflow, teaching write, plan, and apply as a single repeating loop with terraform init as its prerequisite and terraform destroy as its mirror image. You will learn what init installs and configures, how a plan is assembled from configuration, prior state, and refreshed reality, and how to read every action symbol in plan output without guessing. The module closes with fmt, validate, destroy, and the disciplined use of -target and -replace so that emergency options never become habits.

   4 lessons · 15 quiz questions

3. 03

   Reading and Writing Terraform Configuration

   Covers the Terraform Associate (004) domain Terraform configuration, which is the largest writing-focused area of the exam. You will learn the HCL building blocks, the type system, expressions and functions, input variables with custom validation, sensitive data handling including secrets managers such as Vault, locals and outputs, resource and data source declarations, and the dependency graph that decides ordering. The module closes with the meta-arguments and lifecycle rules that control how many objects Terraform creates, how it replaces them, and how it fails fast when an assumption is wrong.

   4 lessons · 15 quiz questions

4. 04

   Modules and State Management

   Covers the two Terraform Associate (004) domains that separate people who have written a configuration from people who can run Terraform on a team: Terraform modules, and Terraform state management. You will consume registry modules with deliberate source addresses and version pins, author a reusable module with a clean input and output contract, and explain exactly what the state file holds and why it must be treated as a secret. The module closes with backend configuration, remote state, locking, and the state subcommands the exam returns to again and again.

   4 lessons · 15 quiz questions

5. 05

   Maintaining Infrastructure and Using HCP Terraform

   Covers the final two Terraform Associate (004) domains, Maintain infrastructure with Terraform and HCP Terraform. You will learn to adopt existing infrastructure with import blocks and the import command, to troubleshoot with TF_LOG and the read only inspection commands, to force recreation with the replace option rather than the deprecated taint command, and to tell CLI workspaces apart from HCP Terraform workspaces. The module closes with remote runs, version control integration, variables and variable sets, teams and permissions, the private registry, and policy enforcement.

   4 lessons · 15 quiz questions