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HashiCorp

TERRAFORM-ASSOCIATE-004 · Question #266

When running a terraform plan, how can you save the plan so it can be applied at a later time?

The correct answer is D. use the -out parameter. To save a Terraform plan for later application, you must specify an output file when generating the plan.

Submitted by jakub_pl· Apr 18, 2026Use Terraform CLI

Question

When running a terraform plan, how can you save the plan so it can be applied at a later time?

Options

  • Ayou cannot save a plan
  • Buse the -file parameter
  • Cuse the -save parameter
  • Duse the -out parameter

How the community answered

(65 responses)
  • A
    3% (2)
  • B
    5% (3)
  • C
    2% (1)
  • D
    91% (59)

Why each option

To save a Terraform plan for later application, you must specify an output file when generating the plan.

Ayou cannot save a plan

Terraform explicitly supports saving plans for later application, making this statement incorrect.

Buse the -file parameter

The `-file` parameter is not a valid or recognized option for the `terraform plan` command to save an execution plan.

Cuse the -save parameter

The `-save` parameter is not a recognized or valid option for the `terraform plan` command to save the execution plan.

Duse the -out parameterCorrect

The `terraform plan -out=<filename>` command saves the generated execution plan to a specified file. This saved plan file contains a binary representation of the proposed infrastructure changes, ensuring that the exact same plan can be applied later using `terraform apply <filename>`.

Concept tested: Saving Terraform execution plans

Source: https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/cli/commands/plan#saving-a-plan-to-a-file

Topics

#terraform plan#CLI#plan file#saving plans

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