Terraform Certification by HashiCorp has been revolutionizing the way cloud and on-premise infrastructure are managed. Terraform is one such tool which is an open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool developed by HashiCorp in 2014. Obtaining the right Terraform skills and expertise is very easy. Read this article to get an overview of Terraform and the HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate exam.
Terraform Certification Exam
Terraform Certification Exam is a certification program offered by HashiCorp, the company that develops Terraform, a popular infrastructure as code (IaC) tool. The certification program is designed to validate and recognize the skills and expertise of individuals in using Terraform for building, changing, and managing infrastructure across multiple cloud providers.
Terraform Certification exam is one of the most demanded certification in the Devops category. If you are a cloud engineer then this certification is a must to have in your profile.
Here is the snapshot of how it looks in the Google Trends for the last few years. The demand for Hashicorp terraform certifications are on the rise.
The top companies that offer Hashicorp certified Terraform certification courses to their employees are Netapp, Volkswagen, Eventbrite, Nasdaq, and many more.
What is Terraform?
Terraform is one of the most popular infrastructures automation IaC tools using which you can automatically create, edit, and version your cloud and on-premise infrastructure. It is written in the Go programming language.
Terraform allows you to specify an intended infrastructure using a high-level configuration language called HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL). The infrastructure can be any low-level and high-level components, such as compute instances, storage, networking, DNS records, SaaS services, and so on.
It has a simple syntax so you can provision infrastructure across different cloud and on-premises data centers, and re-supply infrastructure in response to configuration changes safely and efficiently. It is also capable of managing both third-party services and unique in-house solutions.
Key Benefits of Terraform
- Open source and free
- Platform flexibility
- Automation
- Immutable infrastructure
- Declarative code
- Client-only architecture
- Portability and Reliability
- Consistent workflow
- Elegant user experience
- Strong community support
Pre-requisites for Terraform certification
While appearing for the Hashicorp Terraform certification, the following pre-requisites were recommended and they are:
- Basic knowledge of IaC and cloud computing fundamentals
- It is advised that users have prior production-related experience in Terraform
Hashicorp Certifications
Hashicorp Certifications are a set of professional certifications offered by Hashicorp, the company behind popular open-source infrastructure tools such as Terraform, Vault, and Consul. These certifications are designed to validate an individual’s knowledge and skills in using Hashicorp’s tools, and include certifications for specific products as well as general certifications for Hashicorp’s overall platform.
Here is the list of hashicorp certification exam.
What will you learn in terraform associate exam?
Learning Hashicorp Terraform can add great value to your portfolio if you are a Cloud Engineer who works in operations, DevOps engineer, or a developer. The most efficient method to learn Terraform and earn credibility is by getting a certification in it.
The HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate is the official certification exam for Terraform. This certification exam validates your fundamental infrastructure automation knowledge and hands-on skills.
The exam objectives are listed as the following nine major topics:
- Understand infrastructure as code (IaC) concepts.
- Understand Terraform’s purpose (vs other IaC).
- Understand Terraform basics.
- Use the Terraform CLI (outside of core workflow).
- 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 take up the certification exam and start preparing, ensure that you have the basic terminal (Command Line Interface) skills and understanding of cloud and on-premise infrastructure.
To pass the certification exam master the fundamentals of Terraform, thoroughly go through the official Terraform Associate Study Guide and the exam objectives. Go through the official documentation for each topic and subtopic or enroll in an online Terraform course.
Simultaneously start performing hands-on lab exercises so that you get the practical knowledge and learn the Terraform CLI to start provisioning infrastructures. Next, check the official Terraform Associate sample questions to get a sense of the actual exam.
Practicing before the actual Terraform Associate exam reinforces your knowledge and boosts your confidence. So we recommended that you attempt multiple practice tests and hands-on labs. You can enroll in our HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate-Whizlabs (Practice Tests and Hands-on Labs) today to get unlimited access to 240 unique practice questions and 5 hands-on labs. These resources are developed by our Terraform experts and cover all the exam objectives in depth.
By following the aforementioned steps you easily master the fundamentals of Terraform, become aware of enterprise features, and how to effectively use an open-source solution like Terraform. With this knowledge, you will be well prepared with practical knowledge of the exam objectives and to pass the certification exam.
How Difficult is this exam?
This exam is easy to pass if you have the knowledge on Terraform basic understanding, the purpose why we are using it, workflow, function modules, and workspace concepts. The following are the best ways to prepare for this exam:
- Read the questions carefully
- You should have good knowledge of the basic terraform commands and workflow
- It is quite necessary to understand the concepts of state files. The exam will thoroughly test your knowledge of these concepts with debugging.
- Implicit vs Explicit dependencies
- Module, Workspace, and Registry
- The difference between the offerings: Terraform cloud vs Enterprise
This is how the exam report will look like:
Exam Details of Terraform associate
You will be given 1 hour to complete this terraform associate exam. It is a computerized exam where you will get a multiple choice question of 57 to 60. 700 out of 1000 is the passing mark for this exam. This exam will be valid for up to 2 years of time and costs around 70.5 US dollars. There are no prior certifications needed to take up this exam.
HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate – History
In Short, here is the summary of this exam:
- The format for this exam is Multiple Choice Questions (The expected type of questions are: True / False, Multiple Choice with Single Answer, Multiple Choice with many answers, fill in the blank)
- The cost of this exam is $70.50
- The duration of this certification exam is One Hour.
- Though there is no official announcement on the number of questions, from the exam taker’s experience we can note that the exam consists of 50-60 questions. But it may vary depending on.
- Till now, the passing score is not officially announced by Hashicorp, however, if you could secure 70%, there is a high chance of passing the exam.
- The exam can be taken in the English language only.
- This exam is not very deep into testing the hands-on experience of Terraform tools, but it requires basic knowledge on how to configure Terraform in the enterprise.
- The validity of this certification is two years from the date of the certification issue.
- It will take 10 days to receive the digital badge of the certification.
- Here is the official link to read about the certification.
Terraform Certification Updates
July 2022 – As of today, there is only one update on Terraform Certification
Given the dynamic nature of Terraform as a technology, the exam requires periodic updates to align with evolving best practices and the introduction of new features. The most recent update, version 003, is launched in March 2023.
A new version of Hashicorp Terraform Associate is coming soon. The existing Terraform Associate (002) certification will be replaced by Terraform Associate (003) certification. As of today, terraform associate (002) is the only available terraform certification, the expiry dates are yet to be announced.
Hope you have enjoyed this article, We’ll keep you posted on further updates about Terraform certification in this blog post. Stay tuned !
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