Module 18, Exam Preparation: HashiCorp Associate (003)

Exam Overview

Detail	Info
Questions	57
Time	60 minutes
Format	Multiple choice + True/False
Passing score	~70%
Cost	$70.50 USD
Book at	hashicorp.com/certifications

Objectives Coverage Map

Objective	Weight	Covered in
1. Understand IaC concepts	5-10%	Module 1
2. Terraform purpose vs other tools	5-10%	Modules 1, 3
3. Terraform basics (HCL, resources, vars)	20-25%	Modules 2, 3, 4, 7
4. Use Terraform outside core workflow	10-15%	Module 8
5. Interact with Terraform modules	10-15%	Module 8
6. Use the core Terraform workflow	25-35%	Module 6, MOST TESTED
7. Implement and maintain state	20-25%	Modules 5, 9
8. Read, generate, modify configuration	5-10%	Modules 2-4
9. Understand HCP Terraform capabilities	5-10%	Module 10

Key Exam Topics to Memorise

State (Objective 7):

• terraform.tfstate = source of truth
• Never commit to git
• S3 + DynamoDB for teams
• terraform state rm removes without deleting from AWS
• terraform import brings existing resources into state

Workflow (Objective 6):

• init → fmt → validate → plan → apply
• -/+ = destroy + recreate (dangerous!)
• plan -out=tfplan → apply tfplan for CI/CD
• terraform fmt -check fails CI if unformatted

Variable precedence (lowest → highest):

1. Default in variable block
2. terraform.tfvars
3. *.auto.tfvars
4. TF_VAR_ environment variables
5. -var command line flag ← wins

Common exam tricks:

• sensitive = true does NOT encrypt in state, it only hides from CLI output
• HCP Terraform workspaces ≠ CLI workspaces
• terraform refresh is deprecated (use terraform apply -refresh-only)
• ~> 5.0 = 5.x only (pessimistic constraint)
• Remote state is NOT automatically encrypted, requires encrypt = true

Take the Practice Quiz

Work through all 50 practice questions before your exam:

👉 Open 50-Question Practice Exam →

Recommended Study Order

1. Complete Modules 1-10 of this course
2. Take the 50-question practice exam
3. Review any objectives you scored below 70% on
4. Read the official study guide
5. Book the exam when consistently scoring 80%+

Exam Mapping

This entire module is exam preparation. All objectives above directly map to the HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003) certification.