During a terraform apply -refresh-only run, which element is not consulted by Terraform?

During a terraform apply -refresh-only run, which element is not consulted by Terraform?

• A. Credentials
• B. State file
• C. Terraform resource definitions in configuration files
• D. Cloud provider

Answer: (C)

During a refresh-only run, Terraform’s goal is to bring the state up to date with what actually exists in the real world. It does this by looking at the state file to know which resources are being tracked and then querying the cloud provider (using the configured credentials) to fetch the current attributes of those resources. The configuration file’s resource blocks aren’t used to determine which resources to refresh or to fetch their current state in this mode; they’re used when planning or applying changes. So the element not consulted in a refresh-only run is the Terraform resource definitions in the configuration files.

During a refresh-only run, Terraform’s goal is to bring the state up to date with what actually exists in the real world. It does this by looking at the state file to know which resources are being tracked and then querying the cloud provider (using the configured credentials) to fetch the current attributes of those resources. The configuration file’s resource blocks aren’t used to determine which resources to refresh or to fetch their current state in this mode; they’re used when planning or applying changes. So the element not consulted in a refresh-only run is the Terraform resource definitions in the configuration files.