Variables

Question 1

What are Terraform environment variables used for?

Answer 1

Configure Terraform behavior, pass secrets, and set execution parameters.

Question 2

How does Terraform read environment variables?

Answer 2

Reads variables prefixed with TF_, TF_VAR_, or provider-specific prefixes.

Question 3

How do you set an environment variable in Linux/macOS?

Answer 3

export VAR_NAME=value

Question 4

How do you set an environment variable in Windows?

Answer 4

set VAR_NAME=value (cmd) or $env:VAR_NAME = ‘value’ (PowerShell)

Question 5

What does TF_LOG do?

Answer 5

Sets the logging level (e.g., TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR).

Question 6

What does TF_LOG_PATH do?

Answer 6

Defines a file path to store Terraform logs.

Question 7

What is the purpose of TF_WORKSPACE?

Answer 7

Specifies the Terraform workspace in use.

Question 8

What does TF_CLI_ARGS do?

Answer 8

Passes additional CLI arguments automatically to every Terraform command.

Question 9

What does TF_DATA_DIR define?

Answer 9

Changes the directory where Terraform stores state files and cache.

Question 10

What does TF_INPUT control?

Answer 10

Determines if Terraform prompts for user input (true or false).

Question 11

What does TF_REGISTRY_DISCOVERY_RETRY do?

Answer 11

Sets the number of retries for Terraform registry discovery.

Question 12

What does TF_SKIP_PROVIDER_VERIFY do?

Answer 12

Skips provider binary signature verification.

Question 13

What does TF_IGNORE_WARNINGS do?

Answer 13

Suppresses specific warning messages in Terraform.

Question 14

What does TF_ALLOW_DYNAMIC_PIVOT do?

Answer 14

Enables dynamic pivoting of Terraform configurations.

Question 15

What does TF_DISABLE_PARTIAL_RETRY do?

Answer 15

Disables partial retries for Terraform operations.

Question 16

How do you define a Terraform input variable using environment variables?

Answer 16

Use the TF_VAR_ prefix, e.g., export TF_VAR_region=’us-west-1’.

Question 17

What is the benefit of using TF_VAR_?

Answer 17

Allows setting Terraform variables without modifying .tfvars files.

Question 18

What does TF_CLI_CONFIG_FILE specify?

Answer 18

Defines a custom Terraform CLI configuration file.

Question 19

What does TF_PLUGIN_CACHE_DIR do?

Answer 19

Sets the location to cache Terraform provider plugins.

Question 20

What does TF_IN_AUTOMATION affect?

Answer 20

Optimizes Terraform for automation by disabling interactive prompts.

Question 21

What does TF_HTTP_CREDENTIALS do?

Answer 21

Provides credentials for HTTP remote backend authentication.

Question 22

What does TF_HTTP_TIMEOUT do?

Answer 22

Sets the timeout for HTTP operations in Terraform.

Question 23

What does TF_REMOTE_STATE do?

Answer 23

Defines settings for Terraform remote state storage.

Question 24

What does TF_CLOUD_ORGANIZATION specify?

Answer 24

Defines the Terraform Cloud organization for remote execution.

Question 25

What does TF_WORKSPACE affect in Terraform Cloud?

Answer 25

Selects the workspace for Terraform Cloud operations.

Question 26

What does TF_CLOUD_HOSTNAME do?

Answer 26

Sets the hostname for Terraform Cloud API requests.

Question 27

Why is TF_TOKEN_app.terraform.io used?

Answer 27

Stores the authentication token for Terraform Cloud.

Question 28

What should you avoid doing with sensitive environment variables?

Answer 28

Avoid hardcoding them in scripts; use secret management tools instead.

Question 29

What does TF_SECURITY_POLICY_OVERRIDE do?

Answer 29

Overrides specific security policies in Terraform.

Question 30

What’s a best practice for managing environment variables in Terraform?

Answer 30

Store secrets securely and avoid committing them to version control.

Question 31

How can you debug Terraform with environment variables?

Answer 31

Set TF_LOG=DEBUG and check logs for troubleshooting.

Question 32

How can you persist Terraform environment variables?

Answer 32

Define them in shell configuration files like .bashrc or .zshrc.

Question 33

How do you list all Terraform environment variables?

Answer 33

Use env | grep TF_ or printenv | grep TF_ in Linux/macOS.