Rationale for Correct Answer: To provision new infrastructure, Terraform’s core workflow is:
terraform plan to create an execution plan (what will be created/changed/destroyed).
terraform apply to execute that plan and provision the infrastructure.
These two steps represent the essential “preview then create” workflow Terraform objectives emphasize.
Analysis of Incorrect Options (Distractors):
A (Import): Used to bring existing resources under Terraform management; not required for provisioning new infrastructure.
C (Validate): Useful for checking syntax and internal consistency, but not required to provision.
E (Init): Typically required before first use in a new working directory (providers/modules/backend setup), but the question asks which steps are required in the workflow to provision—the required provisioning steps are plan + apply.
Key Concept: Terraform CLI workflow: plan → apply for provisioning.
[Reference: Terraform Objectives — Understand Terraform Basics and CLI (core workflow commands)., , , , ]
