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TERRAFORM-ASSOCIATE-004 · Question #212

TERRAFORM-ASSOCIATE-004 Question #212: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

The correct answer is C: Rebuild only the instances that were deleted.. Terraform operates declaratively - it continuously reconciles the desired state (your configuration) against the actual state of infrastructure. When you run terraform apply after instances are deleted outside of Terraform, it detects specifically which resources are missing and

Submitted by lukas.cz· Apr 18, 2026Manage Terraform State

Question

A senior admin accidentally deleted some of your cloud instances. What will Terraform do when you run terraform apply?

Options

  • ATear down the entire workspace's infrastructure and rebuild it.
  • BBuild a completely brand new set of infrastructure.
  • CRebuild only the instances that were deleted.
  • DStop and generate an error message about the missing instances.

Explanation

Terraform operates declaratively - it continuously reconciles the desired state (your configuration) against the actual state of infrastructure. When you run terraform apply after instances are deleted outside of Terraform, it detects specifically which resources are missing and recreates only those deleted instances. It does not rebuild the entire workspace or generate an error; it simply restores the missing resources to match the desired configuration.

Topics

#terraform apply#state drift#resource reconciliation#infrastructure management

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