Creating and switching workspaces in Terraform - Practice Exercises

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ service_behavior

intermediate

What happens after creating a new workspace?

You run the command terraform workspace new dev in your project directory. What is the immediate effect on your Terraform environment?

A The current workspace is renamed to 'dev'.

B A new workspace named 'dev' is created but you remain in the current workspace.

C A new workspace named 'dev' is created and automatically switched to.

D An error occurs because you must switch manually after creating a workspace.

💡 Hint

Think about what Terraform does immediately after creating a workspace.

When you create a new workspace with 'terraform workspace new ', Terraform creates it and switches to it automatically.

❓ Configuration

intermediate

Which command switches to an existing workspace?

You have workspaces named 'default', 'staging', and 'production'. Which command switches your current workspace to 'staging'?

A terraform workspace select staging

B terraform workspace new staging

C terraform workspace use staging

D terraform workspace switch staging

💡 Hint

Look for the official command to switch workspaces.

The correct command to switch to an existing workspace is 'terraform workspace select '.

❓ Architecture

advanced

How do workspaces affect your Terraform state files?

You have multiple workspaces in your Terraform project. How does Terraform manage state files for these workspaces?

A Terraform merges all workspace states into one file automatically.

B All workspaces share the same state file but use different prefixes.

C Workspaces do not affect state files; all changes go to a single state file.

D Each workspace has its own separate state file stored in the backend.

💡 Hint

Think about isolation of environments in Terraform.

Terraform stores a separate state file for each workspace to isolate their resources.

❓ security

advanced

What is a security risk when sharing Terraform workspaces?

If multiple team members share the same Terraform workspace, what is a potential security risk?

A Workspaces automatically encrypt state files, so no risk exists.

B Accidental overwriting of state causing resource conflicts or data loss.

C Terraform prevents multiple users from accessing the same workspace.

D Workspaces expose sensitive variables publicly by default.

💡 Hint

Consider what happens if multiple people change infrastructure at once.

Sharing a workspace can cause state conflicts if multiple users apply changes simultaneously, risking data loss.

✅ Best Practice

expert

What is the best practice for managing environments with Terraform workspaces?

You want to manage multiple environments (dev, staging, prod) using Terraform workspaces. Which approach is best?

A Use separate workspaces for each environment and keep environment-specific variables outside the main config.

B Avoid workspaces and manage environments by copying the entire Terraform project folder.

C Create a workspace per environment but store all variables in one file without separation.

D Use a single workspace and switch variables manually before each apply.

💡 Hint

Think about isolation and maintainability of environments.

Using separate workspaces per environment with environment-specific variables managed separately is best practice for isolation and clarity.