Basic Questions

1. What is Terraform?
   • Answer: Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) tool created by HashiCorp. It allows you to define and provision infrastructure using a high-level configuration language.
2. What are the main components of Terraform?
   • Answer: The main components are:
     • Providers: Plugins that interact with APIs of various services.
     • Resources: Basic building blocks for your infrastructure.
     • Modules: Reusable, self-contained packages of Terraform configurations.
     • State: Keeps track of the infrastructure managed by Terraform.
3. Explain the workflow of Terraform.
   • Answer: The Terraform workflow consists of:
     • Write: Write your infrastructure code in .tf files.
     • Plan: Run terraform plan to see the changes that will be made.
     • Apply: Run terraform apply to create or update your infrastructure.
     • Destroy: Run terraform destroy to remove all resources.
4. What is a Terraform provider?
   • Answer: A provider is a plugin that Terraform uses to interact with APIs of cloud providers, SaaS providers, or other APIs. Providers define the resources that can be managed.

Intermediate Questions

5. What is the purpose of the terraform init command?
   • Answer: terraform init initializes a Terraform working directory. It downloads the necessary provider plugins and prepares the working directory for other commands like terraform plan and terraform apply.
6. How does Terraform handle state management?
   • Answer: Terraform uses a state file to map real-world resources to your configuration. This state file is used to track resource dependencies and determine the changes required to reach the desired state.
7. What is a Terraform module?
   • Answer: A module is a container for multiple resources that are used together. Modules can be used to encapsulate common patterns, and they allow for code reuse and organization.
8. How can you manage Terraform state files in a team environment?
   • Answer: You can use remote state backends, such as AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Terraform Cloud, to store and share the state file among team members. This ensures consistency and prevents conflicts.
9. What is the terraform plan command used for?
   • Answer: terraform plan is used to create an execution plan. It shows the changes that will be made to the infrastructure, allowing you to review them before applying.

Advanced Questions

10. Explain the difference between terraform apply and terraform plan.
    • Answer: terraform plan generates an execution plan, showing what actions will be taken but does not actually perform those actions. terraform apply executes the plan and makes the necessary changes to your infrastructure.
11. What are some common ways to share and reuse Terraform modules?
    • Answer: Common ways to share and reuse modules include:
      • Storing them in a version control system like GitHub.
      • Publishing them to a private module registry.
      • Using Terraform Registry for publicly available modules.
12. How do you handle secret management in Terraform?
    • Answer: Secrets can be managed using environment variables, encrypted files, or secret management tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or Azure Key Vault.
13. What is the purpose of terraform import?
    • Answer: terraform import is used to import existing infrastructure into your Terraform state. This allows you to manage resources created outside of Terraform with Terraform.
14. How can you ensure the immutability of your infrastructure using Terraform?
    • Answer: By using Terraform to manage infrastructure as code, you can ensure that all changes are version-controlled and applied consistently. Use modules and enforce policies to avoid manual changes to infrastructure.
15. What is the difference between terraform taint and terraform untaint?
    • Answer: terraform taint marks a resource for recreation during the next apply. terraform untaint removes the taint from a resource, indicating it should not be recreated.

Scenario-Based Questions

16. How would you manage dependencies between resources in Terraform?
    • Answer: Terraform manages dependencies automatically using the configuration of resources. Explicit dependencies can be specified using the depends_on argument.
17. How do you handle multiple environments (e.g., development, staging, production) with Terraform?
    • Answer: Multiple environments can be managed using different workspaces, separate state files, or directory structures with environment-specific configurations.
18. Explain a situation where you encountered a conflict in the state file and how you resolved it.
    • Answer: Describe a scenario where a state conflict occurred, such as concurrent modifications, and explain how you resolved it, possibly by using remote state backends, locking mechanisms, or state file recovery.
19. What strategies would you use to reduce the risk of downtime during infrastructure updates?
    • Answer: Use blue-green deployments, canary releases, or rolling updates. Test changes in a staging environment before applying them to production.
20. How would you manage and apply Terraform configurations across multiple cloud providers?
    • Answer: Use provider configurations to define resources for different cloud providers. Leverage modules to encapsulate provider-specific configurations and ensure consistency across different environments.

Advanced and Scenario-Based Questions

1. How do you manage complex environments with Terraform where different resources are interdependent and need to be provisioned in a specific order?
   • Answer: Terraform handles resource dependencies automatically. However, for complex dependencies, explicit dependencies can be defined using the depends_on argument. Additionally, breaking down the infrastructure into multiple modules and orchestrating the order using scripts or tools like Terraform Enterprise can help manage complex environments.
2. Describe a scenario where you used Terraform with a CI/CD pipeline. How did you integrate Terraform, and what challenges did you face?
   • Answer: Explain how Terraform was integrated into the CI/CD pipeline, using tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions. Discuss setting up the pipeline stages, managing environment variables and secrets, and handling state files securely. Mention any challenges like state file conflicts, managing different environments, or ensuring idempotency of Terraform runs.
3. How do you handle Terraform state file security and avoid exposing sensitive information?
   • Answer: Store the state file in a remote backend with encryption, such as AWS S3 with server-side encryption enabled. Use tools like HashiCorp Vault to manage sensitive information and environment variables. Ensure that access to the state file is restricted to only those who need it, and use Terraform’s sensitive output feature to mask sensitive information in the state file.
4. Explain how you would perform a zero-downtime deployment using Terraform. Provide a specific example.
   • Answer: Describe a zero-downtime deployment strategy, such as blue-green deployment or canary releases. For example, with blue-green deployment, create a new set of resources (e.g., a new ECS service or a new ASG with a load balancer) and then switch traffic from the old resources to the new ones. Ensure the old resources are only decommissioned once the new ones are confirmed to be running smoothly.
5. How do you manage different Terraform configurations for various environments (dev, staging, prod) while avoiding code duplication?
   • Answer: Use a combination of workspaces, modules, and variable files to manage different environments. Each environment can have its own set of variable files (dev.tfvars, staging.tfvars, prod.tfvars) while sharing common modules. Use Terraform workspaces to switch between environments and apply environment-specific configurations.
6. What strategies do you use to ensure that your Terraform code is maintainable and reusable?
   • Answer: Use modules to encapsulate and reuse configurations. Keep module code clean and well-documented. Use version control to manage changes and ensure that each module version is tested before use. Implement linters and formatters like terraform fmt and terraform validate to maintain code quality. Also, follow best practices for naming conventions and code organization.
7. Describe a situation where you had to troubleshoot a Terraform deployment issue. How did you identify and resolve the problem?
   • Answer: Explain a specific issue, such as a resource not being created or an API limit being hit. Describe how you used Terraform logs (TF_LOG environment variable), debug output, and external monitoring tools to diagnose the issue. Discuss the steps taken to resolve it, such as adjusting resource configurations, increasing API limits, or applying workarounds.
8. How do you handle rollbacks with Terraform when something goes wrong during an apply operation?
   • Answer: Explain how you would use version control to revert to a previous configuration and apply the changes again. Discuss the importance of having backups of your state file and using tools like terraform import to re-import resources if necessary. Mention any manual steps that might be required to clean up partial resources or handle dependencies.
9. Can you explain how you manage secrets and sensitive data in Terraform?
   • Answer: Use environment variables, encrypted files, or secret management tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or Azure Key Vault to manage secrets. Use Terraform’s built-in sensitive attribute to mark variables as sensitive, preventing them from being logged or displayed in the output. Ensure that secrets are passed securely to Terraform during runtime.
10. Describe a complex Terraform project you worked on. What were the key challenges, and how did you overcome them?
    • Answer: Provide a detailed example of a complex project, such as provisioning a multi-region, multi-cloud infrastructure. Discuss the challenges faced, such as managing different provider configurations, ensuring network connectivity, handling state file management, and integrating with existing systems. Explain the strategies and tools used to overcome these challenges, such as using modules for reusability, remote state backends for state management, and custom scripts for orchestration.
11. How do you handle drift detection and remediation in Terraform?
    • Answer: Regularly use terraform plan to detect drift between the actual infrastructure state and the desired configuration. For automated drift detection, integrate Terraform with monitoring and alerting tools. When drift is detected, decide whether to update the configuration or the actual resources to align them. Use automated pipelines to apply corrections and ensure infrastructure consistency.
12. How do you manage Terraform provider versions and ensure compatibility?
    • Answer: Specify provider versions in the Terraform configuration using version constraints to ensure compatibility. Use a consistent versioning strategy across different environments and maintain a version lock file (.terraform.lock.hcl) to ensure that all team members and CI/CD pipelines use the same provider versions. Regularly review and update provider versions, testing them in a staging environment before applying to production.
13. What is the purpose of the terraform workspace command, and how do you use it in your projects?
    • Answer: terraform workspace is used to manage multiple workspaces, which are separate instances of state files. This is useful for managing different environments (e.g., dev, staging, prod) within the same configuration. Use terraform workspace new <name> to create a new workspace and terraform workspace select <name> to switch between workspaces. This helps in isolating state files and configurations for different environments.
14. Can you explain how you would migrate a manually managed infrastructure to Terraform?
    • Answer: Start by importing existing resources into the Terraform state using terraform import. Create corresponding resource configurations in the .tf files to match the imported resources. Validate the configurations by running terraform plan to ensure no changes are required. Gradually replace manual management with Terraform-managed infrastructure, ensuring minimal disruption.
15. How do you handle multi-region deployments with Terraform?
    • Answer: Use provider configurations to define resources in multiple regions. Separate region-specific configurations into different modules or files. Use environment variables or input variables to dynamically select regions. Ensure remote state backends support multi-region deployments and use features like S3 cross-region replication to manage state files. Implement network connectivity and resource dependencies across regions carefully.