HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003) Exam Guide E-Book

Chandra Mohan Dhanasekaran

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 366

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

This HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003) exam guide simplifies technical content relating to the exam and helps you learn using real-world examples. The book is aligned with the latest exam objectives, which enables you to streamline your learning experience instead of referring to multiple sources for preparation. Moreover, the book is designed to serve as a "one-stop solution" for readers with varied levels of experience in Terraform.
You'll learn how to efficiently provision and manage cloud and on-premises infrastructure using Terraform. As you progress, you’ll focus on essential commands, state management techniques, and best practices. Later chapters will show you how to harness the power of Terraform modules for code reusability and scalability. You’ll also gain insights into advanced topics such as debugging, troubleshooting, and leveraging Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise for collaborative infrastructure management. This book provides you with lifetime access to supplementary practice resources such as mock exams, flashcards, and exam tips from experts.
By the end of this book, you’ll have the knowledge and skills you need to confidently tackle the Terraform Associate certification exam and excel in your career.

Leseprobe

HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003)

Exam Guide

Prepare to pass the Terraform Associate exam on your first attempt

Chandra Mohan Dhanasekaran

Manjunath H. Gowda

HashiCorp Terraform Associate (003) Exam Guide

Copyright © 2024 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Authors: Chandra Mohan Dhanasekaran and Manjunath H. Gowda

Reviewers: Salim Tekin and Mehdi Laruelle

Publishing Product Manager: Anindya Sil

Senior-Development Editor: Ketan Giri

Development Editor: Kalyani S.

Presentation Designer: Salma Patel

Editorial Board: Vijin Boricha, Megan Carlisle, Simon Cox, Ketan Giri, Saurabh Kadave, Alex Mazonowicz, Gandhali Raut, and Ankita Thakur

First Published: May 2024

Production Reference: 1310524

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Grosvenor House

11 St Paul’s Square

Birmingham

B3 1RB

ISBN: 978-1-80461-884-4

www.packtpub.com

Contributors

About the Authors

Chandra Mohan Dhanasekaran, a.k.a. Chandru D, is an AWS Certified Solutions Architect at Philips, focused on designing world-class resilient and cost-efficient solutions for customers in the public cloud. His previous experience includes stints at banking giants including JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark and very popular in the Nordic countries. He has close to 15 years of professional IT experience in different domains and various technology stacks ranging from mainframes to frontend, distributed, and container technologies. He has always had a profound love for mainframe systems and is fascinated by the advantages of using IaC tools and cloud services. You can find him at almost all AWS events and meetups around Bengaluru, and he loves to connect with people.

He always looks to explore new and blossoming open source technologies and is a fan of serverless technologies and Kubernetes. You can connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandrud

Outside of work, he loves cooking for the kids at the weekend and enjoys jogging whenever he finds time. He’s also a die-hard Manchester United fan and watching “Rafa” (Rafael Nadal) around the tennis court is something he can’t afford to miss!

Manjunath H. Gowda is a VP of cloud engineering at Lentra.ai. Previously, he worked at AWS as a solutions architect, helping customers migrate to AWS and build cloud-native solutions in the AWS cloud. While working as a freelance consultant, he helped several startups with their AWS architecture, cost optimization, infrastructure security assessment, and automation using IaC tools. He has a special interest in cloud security and infra-automation using IaC tools such as CloudFormation and Terraform.

When not in front of a laptop, he plays cricket and loves long-distance cycling. He is a loyal RCB fan who genuinely believes in the RCB slogan, “Ee sala cup namde”.

You can connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/manju712/.

About the Reviewers

Salim Tekin is a seasoned Senior DevOps Engineer, currently spearheading the optimization of the Data Science Platform at Generali Germany. Prior to this role, he served as a Cloud Engineer Consultant at Deloitte, where he specialized in crafting tailored cloud solutions. Before his tenure at Deloitte, Salim showcased his versatility as an ADAS Engineer at Bertrandt, simultaneously holding the role of Product Owner for Connectivity Backend on the 'Harry' project. With a rich skill set including Certified Kubernetes Administration and Development, AWS & GCP Architecture, and proficiency in tools like Terraform and Prometheus, Salim excels in driving efficiency and scalability in complex technological landscapes. Holding a Diploma in Industrial Engineering with a focus on Electronics & Informatics, Salim combines academic prowess with practical expertise to deliver impactful solutions. Outside of work, Salim enjoys staying abreast of the latest technological advancements and spending time with family and friends.

Mehdi Laruelle is a seasoned professional with a diverse background in the industry. With extensive experience working for major players and startups, he's honed his skills as a consultant, particularly in the realm of cloud, DevOps culture and tools. His proficiency extends to HashiCorp software like Terraform and Vault, among others. Passionate about sharing knowledge, Mehdi actively engages in training, writing articles, and organizing meetups. As the co-organizer of the HashiCorp User Group France meetup, he fosters a community of learning and collaboration. His expertise is widely recognized, earning him distinctions as a HashiCorp Ambassador, AWS Community Builder, and AWS Authorized Instructor (AAI). You can find him on GitHub under the username "mehdilaruelle".

Table of Contents

Preface

1

Introduction to Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Concepts

Making the Most Out of This Book – Your Certification and Beyond

Technical Requirements

What Is IaC?

Scenario

Basic Concepts of IaC

Declarative Approach versus Imperative Approach

Version Control

Idempotency

Infrastructure Provisioning and Configuration Management

IaC Tools in the Market

How to Choose the Right IaC Tool

HashiCorp Terraform

Progress Chef

Creating Your First Recipe

Puppet

Pulumi

AWS CloudFormation

IaC Use Cases

Multi-Cloud Deployments

Application Deployments, Scaling, and Monitoring Tools

Policy Compliance and Management

Testing Environments and Software Demos

Benefits of IaC

Rapid Deployments and Tool Integration

Lower Costs and Error Reduction

Configuration Drift Elimination

Improved Infrastructure Consistency

DevOps and CI/CD

Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY)

Creating a Simple AWS DynamoDB Table Using a CloudFormation Template

Creating an AWS S3 Bucket Using Terraform

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

2

Why Do We Need Terraform?

History of Infrastructure Provisioning

Why Is the Cloud Model a Good Fit for Infrastructure Automation?

Infrastructure Automation Using IaC

Advantages of IaC

Various Options for Implementing IaC

What Is Terraform?

Features of Terraform

Licensing Change from Version 1.5.5 (Aug 2023)

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

3

Basics of Terraform and Core Workflow

Technical Requirements

How Terraform Works

Getting Started with Terraform

Terraform CLI Installation Check

AWS CLI Installation Check

Creating Your First Terraform Resource – AWS IAM User

Terraform Settings

HCP Terraform Configuration Using the cloud {} block

Terraform Backend Configuration Using the backend {} Block

The required_version Setting

The required_providers {} Block

Experimental Features

Provider Metadata

Terraform Providers

Types of Terraform Providers

Provider Requirements

Provider Configuration

Dependency lock file (.terraform.lock.hcl)

Resources and Data Sources

Resources Syntax

Resources Meta-Arguments

Data Sources

Variables and Outputs

Input Variables

Output Values

Local Values

Core Workflow

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

4

Terraform Commands and State Management

Technical Requirements

Basic Workflow Commands

The init Command

The plan Command

The apply Command

The destroy Command

Commands for Code Management

The fmt Command

The validate Command

Special Commands

The login Command

The logout Command

The console Command

The output Command

The show Command

The graph Command

The import Command

State Management and the terraform state Command

The state Command

Subcommands of terraform state

The terraform state list Command

The terraform state show Command

The terraform state mv Command

The terraform state rm Command

The terraform state replace-provider Command

The terraform state pull Command

The terraform state push Command

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

5

Terraform Modules

Technical Requirements

Why Do We Need Modules?

Complexity

Duplication of Code

Segregation

Misconfiguration

What Is a Terraform Module?

Advantages of Modules

Reduces Complexity

Reduces Code Duplication

Segregation

Reduces Misconfigurations

Self-Service

Types of Modules

The Root Module

The Child Module

Local Modules

Remote Modules

Module Structure

The Module Block’s Syntax

Key Points to Consider When You Create a Module

Key Points to Consider While Using a Module

Drawbacks of Modules

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

6

Terraform Backends and Resource Management

What Are Backends?

Backend Configuration

Configuring the backend {} Block

Partial Configuration

Supported Backends

local

remote

s3

http

pg

Kubernetes

Consul

azurerm

cos

gcs

oss

Resource Addressing and Dependencies

Resource Addressing

Resource Dependencies

Expressions and Constraints

Data Types

Operators

Conditional Expressions

for Expressions

splat Expressions

Type Constraints

Version Constraints

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

7

Debugging and Troubleshooting Terraform

Configuration Errors

override.tf File-Related Issues

terraform validate

Variable-Related Issues

Type Constraint

Input Validation

Variable Precedence

State-Related Issues

Configuration Drift

State Conflict

Migrating the State from One Backend to Another

Core and Provider-Related Issues

Module-Related Issues

Missing Features

Output-Related Issues

Unsupported Argument

Version-Related Issues

Taking Help from the Forum

Bug Reporting

Gotchas

Avoid Lists Where Possible

Using -target in Terraform Runs

General Tips

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

8

Terraform Functions

Technical Requirements

Function Syntax

Numeric Functions

The abs() Function

The ceil() Function

The floor() Function

The max() Function

The min() Function

The pow() Function

The log() Function

The signum() Function

The parseint() Function

String Functions

The split() Function

The join() Function

The endswith() Function

The startswith() Function

The chomp() Function

The substr() Function

The strrev() Function

The lower() Function

The upper() Function

The trim() Function

The trimprefix() and trimsuffix() Functions

The trimspace() Function

The indent() Function

The replace() Function

The strcontains() Function

The title() Function

The format() Function

The formatlist() Function

The regex() Function

The regexall() Function

Date and Time Functions

The timestamp() Function

The formatdate() Function

The plantimestamp() Function

The timeadd() Function

The timecmp() Function

Collection Functions

The alltrue() Function

The anytrue() Function

The chunklist() Function

The coalesce() and coalescelist() Functions

The compact() Function

The concat() Function

The contains() Function

The distinct() Function

The element() Function

The flatten() Function

The keys() and values() Functions

The index() Function

The length() Function

The lookup() Function

The matchkeys() Function

The merge() Function

The one() Function

The range() Function

The reverse() Function

Set Functions

The slice() Function

The sort() Function

The sum() Function

The transpose() Function

The zipmap() Function

Type Conversion Functions

The can() Function

The sensitive() and nonsensitive() Functions

The try() Function

The type() Function

Conversion Functions

Filesystem Functions

The abspath() Function

The dirname() and basename() Functions

The pathexpand() Function

The file() and filebase64() Functions

The fileexists() Function

The fileset() Function

The templatefile() Function

IP Network Functions

The cidrhost() Function

The cidrnetmask() Function

The cidrsubnet() Function

The cidrsubnets() Function

Encoding Functions

The base64encode() and base64decode() Functions

The base64gzip() Function

The csvdecode() Function

The jsonencode() and jsondecode() Functions

The textencodebase64() Function

The textdecodebase64() Function

The urlencode() Function

The yamlencode() and yamldecode() Functions

Hash and Crypto Functions

The uuid() Function

The uuidv5() Function

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

9

Understanding HCP Terraform’s Capabilities

Terraform Editions

Shortcomings of Terraform Community Edition

HCP Terraform Features

Remote State Management

Multiple Workflows

Multiple Execution Modes

Version Control System Integration

Private Registry

Notifications

Run Tasks

Role-Based Access Control

Policy Enforcement

Cost Estimation

HCP Terraform Pricing

Key Concepts of HCP Terraform

Workspaces

Projects

Users

Teams

Permissions

Organizations

Locking Workspaces

Sentinel Policies

Explorer

HCP Terraform Sign-Up

Creating an Account with HCP Terraform

Creating an Account with HCP

Exercises on Workflows and Execution Modes

Remote Execution Mode Using the CLI-Driven Workflow

Local Execution Mode Using the CLI-Driven Workflow

Remote Execution Mode Using the VCS/UI Workflow

Creating a Public GitHub Repository and Adding Configuration Files

Integrating the VCS Repository with HCP Terraform

Testing the VCS/UI Workflow in HCP Terraform

Cost Estimation Feature

Migrating to HCP Terraform or Terraform Enterprise

Terraform Enterprise Features

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

10

Miscellaneous Topics

Technical Requirements

Input Validations

Preconditions and Postconditions

The check {} block

Workspaces

The dynamic {} block

Provisioners

The file provisioner

The local-exec provisioner

The remote-exec provisioner

Handling Sensitive Data

AWS Access Keys or Admin Credentials

Variables

Output Values

Next Steps

Summary

Exam Readiness Drill – Chapter Review Questions

11

Accessing the Online Practice Resources

Other Books You May Enjoy

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1

Introduction to Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Concepts

In the ever-evolving era of technology, the software applications being built are expected to be scalable in nature at the very minimum. The term scalability means the ability of an application or system to always match the growing needs of its user base and handle the increase in the number of users without any problems. This is applicable to all types of applications, including web applications, backend microservices, and internal apps. Such scalable apps are well suited for deployment in the cloud rather than on-premises because of the dynamic resource needs and because automating the scaling process (both scaling up and scaling down) will reap greater benefits. This is exactly where Infrastructure as Code (IaC) adds value.

In this chapter, you will explore IaC in detail and the various aspects of this framework through the following topics:

What is IaC?Basic concepts of IaCIaC tools on the marketIaC use casesBenefits of IaC

By the end of this chapter, you will have a firm understanding of IaC concepts, which will help you build your knowledge of the Terraform tool and focus on getting the HashiCorp Terraform Associate 003 certification in the subsequent chapters.

Making the Most Out of This Book – Your Certification and Beyond

This book and its accompanying online resources are designed to be a complete preparation tool for your AZ-204 Exam.

The book is written in a way that you can apply everything you’ve learned here even after your certification. The online practice resources that come with this book (Figure 1.1) are designed to improve your test-taking skills. They are loaded with timed mock exams, interactive flashcards, and exam tips to help you work on your exam readiness from now till your test day.

Before You Proceed

To learn how to access these resources, head over to Chapter 11, Accessing the Online Practice Resources, at the end of the book.

Figure 1.1 – Dashboard interface of the online practice resources

Here are some tips on how to make the most out of this book so that you can clear your certification and retain your knowledge beyond your exam:

Read each section thoroughly.Make ample notes: You can use your favorite online note-taking tool or use a physical notebook. The free online resources also give you access to an online version of this book. Click the BACK TO THE BOOK link from the Dashboard to access the book in Packt Reader. You can highlight specific sections of the book there.Chapter Review Questions: At the end of this chapter, you’ll find a link to review questions for this chapter. These are designed to test your knowledge of the chapter. Aim to score at least 75% before moving on to the next chapter. You’ll find detailed instructions on how to make the most of these questions at the end of this chapter in the Exam Readiness Drill - Chapter Review Questions section. That way, you’re improving your exam-taking skills after each chapter, rather than at the end.Flashcards: After you’ve gone through the book and scored 75% more in each of the chapter review questions, start reviewing the online flashcards. They will help you memorize key concepts.Mock Exams: Solve the mock exams that come with the book till your exam day. If you get some answers wrong, go back to the book and revisit the concepts you’re weak in.Exam Tips: Review these from time to time to improve your exam readiness even further.

This chapter covers the following main topics:

The benefits of cloud computingCloud deployment modelsCloud service modelsThe core concepts of Azure

Technical Requirements

This is an introductory chapter on IaC that covers aspects such as use cases, different tools, and benefits that require no prior experience. However, basic knowledge of code development practices, public and private clouds, automation, DevOps, containers, and virtualization will help you understand the chapter better.

There are a couple of exercises at the end of this chapter to help you get a feel for using IaC tools. To complete them, you need the following:

Amazon Web Services (AWS) account ID with administrator accessAWS CLI version 2.x.xTerraform CLI version 1.5.x or laterVisual Studio Code or any text editor

The GitHub repository for the chapter contains the graphics and sample scripts used in the chapter and can be found here:

https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Hashicorp-Certified-Terraform-Associate-003-Exam-guide-Second-Edition/tree/main/ch1

What Is IaC?

In simple terms, IaC is the process of managing and provisioning an infrastructure through code instead of manual processes. In software engineering, you usually come across code development in programming languages such as Java, Python, and so many others that follow the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process and then store them in a version-controlled source management tool such as GitHub or Bitbucket when they’re ready. They are then deployed in the appropriate infrastructure where needed, either manually or with the help of an automated CI/CD pipeline.

The concept of IaC revolves around similar practices, such as creating a set of configuration scripts that will exactly provide the same infrastructure every time when executed and are also version controlled and properly tested.

IaC tools help us define the infrastructure in human-readable configuration files that can be applied multiple times, and they provide the same infrastructure every time without any changes from the desired state.

Figure 1.1 shows the IaC workflow and how it can transform the configuration scripts or files into real-world infrastructure components.

Figure 1.2 – IaC workflow

Scenario

“Company X wants to build a next-generation e-commerce web application that will be used by millions of its customers. The solution will have multiple microservices working with different architectures and will be deployed in a cloud that needs to run 24x7 for 365 days a year.”

There are two ways to provide the infrastructure needed to run this application:

Traditional approachIaC-based approach

In the traditional approach, there are clear segregations of responsibilities among the different teams involved, such as application development teams for app development, infrastructure teams for provisioning the resources to deploy the application, and operations teams to support the solution in production.

Once the entire solution has been developed and is ready for production, the development team will get in touch with the infrastructure team and share the requirements to run the application, usually with the ticketing mechanism. Then the infrastructure team will have a dedicated person/team to work on the task and make necessary planning for the deployment.

The planning process will involve procuring the dependent software and the required licenses and installing them on the server where the app will be running. The team will also spend time creating the scripts that need to be run manually before the deployment to get the environment ready.

The operations team will work on the monitoring part of the web application and come up with approaches such as health checks and mail notifications when there are any issues to support the deployment. There will be situations where the incoming traffic will increase rapidly, which requires scaling, and they might need to contact the infrastructure team to deploy multiple instances to serve the traffic, and the manual process will repeat once again. If there are any manual errors in this approach, that will delay the deployment of additional instances, which will affect the business.

As you can see, there are different bottlenecks in the overall execution and the temporary delays will have a bigger impact, and that is where the IaC approach will add real value.

In the IaC approach, based on DevOps principles, the application development team will also be responsible for the infrastructure provisioning, and they might support the application in production.

Once the application is ready to be deployed, the team focuses on creating the configuration scripts that will provision the required infrastructure on the cloud or on-premises setup. The team would be comfortable with going with the cloud-based deployment to make use of fully managed services and the pay-as-you-go model to avoid upfront costs.