Okay, so I recently just passed the Hashicorp Authoring & Operations Professional with AWS exam, and I wanted to write my first blog on 2025 about it, including how I found it, and any tips for anyone looking to attempt it soon.

The Exam

At the time of writing this article the exam is solely focused on AWS resources, although both Azure and GCP equivalents of the exam are coming soon.

Useful Exam Information

The exam is 4 hours long and consists of both multiple-choice questions and lab-based questions, with the lab elements taking up most (80%+) of the exam. You also do have a 15-minute break within the exam, which you can take at any time.

Even though you have 4 hours, the time in the exam does go very quickly, especially if you get caught up on an issue or find yourself going down a rabbit-hole on one of the labs like I did. I accidentally deleted some Terraform state files I had created, so I ended up having to destroy and recreate the AWS resources and then update my state files. My advice after doing this would be to back up any important files as you go along as a precaution!

The exam is administered on the Certiverse platform. Ensure the device you plan to use is compatible and up to spec with the platform. I have taken exams on other certification platforms in the past where I have experienced lagging throughout the exam which has really affected my exam experience.

You are only able to use 1 monitor for the exam whether that’s directly from the laptop, or an external monitor. In my case I decided to shut my laptop lid, and run off my external monitor which was permitted for the exam. The proctor asked me to confirm my laptop lid was closed.

Exam Requirements

On developer.hashicorp.com, Hashicorp provide a very detailed list of exam requirements for the exam. Ensure you are comfortable with all of the below as you will come across each element at some point in the exam:

Experience using the Terraform AWS Provider in a production environment
HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate Certification (recommended)
Linux skills, such as the ability to list and edit files via command terminal
Experience using cloud credentials
Familiarity with YAML, JSON, HCL, and CSV formats
Understanding of the networking stack and networking protocols, including TCP/IP and UDP
Advanced configuration authoring and a deep understanding of Terraform workflows

The exam is also based specifically on Terraform version 1.6, so any new features which came out after version 1.6 (for example the removed {} block) can be removed {} from your memory.

When you log into the exam, the lab environment is hosted on a Linux VDI, with VS Code, Firefox and a terminal installed. Along with the above, I would also ensure you’re familiar with navigating your way around the Linux CLI.

Exam Format

As mentioned above the exam consists of 4 labs and 12 multiple-choice questions. As per the official documentation, the labs consist of these 4 scenarios:

Module refactoring
Provider management
HCL Manipulation
Debugging

As for the multiple-choice element, you will be required to understand and answer questions on HCP Terraform.

AWS Resources

In terms of what AWS/Terraform resources are used in the exam, there is a handful of resources and data sources you should be familiar with:

aws_instance
aws_ami data source
aws_launch_template
aws_autoscaling_group
aws_security_group
aws_security_group_rule
aws_s3_object
random_integer
aws_s3_bucket
aws_caller_identity data source
aws_iam_session_context data source
aws_iam_policy_document data source
aws_iam_role
aws_subnet data source
aws_vpc_security_group_ingress_rule
aws_iam_policy_document data source
aws_iam_role
aws_iam_instance_profile
aws_instance
aws_iam_policy
aws_iam_role_policy_attachment
aws_s3_bucket
The terraform s3 backend
terraform_remote_state data source (that uses the s3 backend)

Also understand how to configure both the AWS provider and terraform {} blocks!

Documentation

Hashicorp are kind enough to give you access to documentation throughout the exam, this is for both the labs and the multiple-choice questions. If there is a piece of documentation you’re not allowed to access, you will be presented with a blocked webpage.

For each lab scenario Hashicorp provides a list of links you’re able to use to help you complete the lab.

I would recommend ensuring you know where most of the main parts of the Terraform documentation live (for example know how to find what functions you might need), this will save you a LOT of time during the exam.

Study Materials

Below are some of the study materials I used to prepare myself for the exam.

Terraform Authoring and Operations Professional Study Guide by Mattias Fjellström

I purchased this book off Mattias after hearing about him writing this book for the exam. I found this book both very affordable and useful as it set the scene for what I was to expect on the exam. Mattias is very good at getting the points you need across for the exam in a very succinct and fun way. I’ve never read 200+ pages so fast in my life!

The book is available via Mattias’ Leanpub page and is constantly being updated so definitely check it out.

Terraform Learning Path

Hashicorp has done an excellent job of providing us with a certification prep area, which includes both documentation & labs related to the exam.

You can find all that information here, and I recommend both reading through the study material, but also doing the labs. For me, actually doing practical work helps me visualise certain situations better when I am questioned on it in exams.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Using other peoples study material is great, as you can get a feel for what topics to expect on the exam, however with this particular exam (as it’s lab based) I found that constant practice over elements of Terraform I am not too familiar with helped me a lot to pass the exam. I get anxious whenever I have to use functions, so a lot of my prep time was around functions and how to ensure I could quickly transform the end values I needed! Actually taking the time to sit down and understand this better has not only helped me for the exam, but also helped me improve my Terraform writing in day-to-day projects, win win!

Something else which shouldn’t be overlooked is to make sure you know your way around both Terraform console and the AWS CLI. It’s very easy to get caught up in studying how to write Terraform, however if a function or expression you’re trying to create doesn’t stack up for whatever reason, being able to drop into the Terraform console to troubleshoot is very useful. Also, the AWS CLI will help you when it comes to obtaining information for specific data sources. You will have access to the AWS console, but I find you can obtain the information you need a lot quicker from the equivalent CLI commands.

My Experience

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of this exam. Building proctored lab exam environments can’t be easy, but I would say on the whole it was very fair, seamless and actually quite fun.

Hashicorp does decide to test you on some areas of Terraform you may not experience day to day, however it is good to refresh your knowledge in these areas anyway, or even learn something knew about Terraform you didn’t know existed!

Unlike most other Cloud exams, Hashicorp does require time to publish your results, so you won’t get a pass/fail straight away once you submit your exam. I had to wait 4-5 hours afterwards to get my initial results through (pass/fail), and then another day or two after this to publish my full exam report. Hashicorp does ask you to allow them up to 48 hours to publish the results.

I actually ran out of time and submitted my exam with around 40 seconds to spare, so ensure to keep an eye on the time whilst you’re going through the exam as the 4 hours does come around quick!

Good luck, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions on the exam.

Hashicorp Authoring & Operations Professional with AWS Exam