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This lesson outlines the scope of the HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate exam (0.0.4). Below is a concise, SEO-friendly breakdown of the eight exam objectives and the specific skills you should practice. Each objective includes what you must understand and practical examples or commands to try. Later lessons will deep-dive into each domain with hands-on labs and demonstrations. Summary table of exam objectives Core Terraform commands
Detailed objective highlights
  1. Infrastructure as Code Fundamentals
  • Know the IaC benefits (automation, consistency, reviewability) and differences between imperative and declarative approaches.
  • Understand Terraform’s position in a multi-cloud environment and how providers map to cloud APIs.
  1. Terraform Fundamentals
  • Learn provider configuration, resource syntax, attributes, and the role of data sources.
  • Grasp the basics of state: what it stores, why it’s necessary, and potential risks if mishandled.
  1. Core Terraform Workflow
  • Practice the day-to-day flow (init → plan → apply → destroy) and how state and backends affect that workflow.
  • Understand plan vs apply and how to interpret diffs and dependency graphs.
  1. Configuration (largest exam area)
  • Expect questions on:
    • Resource blocks, data sources, and arguments
    • Input variables and variable types
    • Outputs and how to reference them
    • Built-in functions and interpolation
    • Explicit dependencies, count, for_each, and resource lifecycle rules
    • Handling sensitive values (using sensitive flag, environment variables, and avoiding secrets in state)
  • Hands-on: modularize code, use input validations, and test variable scoping.
  1. Modules
  • Know how to create reusable modules, consume modules from the Registry or VCS, and pin module versions.
  • Understand module inputs/outputs, nested modules, and best practices for module design.
  1. State Management
  • Compare local vs remote backends (e.g., local, s3, azurerm, gcs, remote) and their trade-offs.
  • Learn about state locking to prevent concurrent writes and state migration patterns.
  • Practice detecting drift and restoring state safely.
  1. Maintenance (Day-2 Operations)
  • Import existing resources into Terraform with terraform import.
  • Use terraform state subcommands to inspect and manipulate state (list, show, mv, rm).
  • Troubleshoot with TF_LOG debug logs and terraform validate/console.
  1. HCP Terraform (HashiCorp Cloud Platform)
  • Understand HCP-specific features: workspaces, runs, remote state management, collaboration, and governance (e.g., Sentinel or policy as code).
  • Practice connecting VCS providers and configuring remote runs in HCP.
Focus most of your study time on configuration (Objective 4) and state management (Objective 6). Also get hands-on experience with HCP Terraform features; the HCP section was expanded in the 0.0.4 exam.
An exam objectives infographic for the Terraform Certified Associate showing a central Terraform badge and numbered objectives. The listed objectives include Infrastructure as Code, Terraform fundamentals, core workflow, configuration, modules, state management, and HCP Terraform.
What changed from 0.0.3 → 0.0.4
  • HCP Terraform content expanded — more questions cover remote workspaces, collaboration, and governance features.
  • Increased emphasis on state management best practices, locking, and drift detection.
  • Expect deeper coverage of configuration topics: advanced functions, complex variable types, and sensitive data handling.
Links and references Next steps
  • Prioritize hands-on labs for Objectives 4 and 6.
  • Practice terraform import and remote backend configuration.
  • Explore HCP workspaces and remote runs to understand collaboration workflows.
If you already studied for the 0.0.3 exam, this lesson highlights the 0.0.4 differences to help you focus on the updated areas.

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