In the Azure Terraform workflow, which statement about state updates is true?

• A. During the next plan or apply
• B. Immediately in the current state file
• C. Only after a separate plan
• D. State is not updated

Answer: (A)

Terraform keeps a snapshot of your real infrastructure in a state file and constantly uses it to map resources to the actual Azure resources. Before showing you what would change, Terraform refreshes that state to reflect the current reality. That refresh happens as part of the plan, and after you apply, Terraform writes the new state to disk (and the backend) to capture the changes. So the state will be updated on the next plan or apply, which is why this statement is the correct one. The state isn’t updated only after a separate plan, nor is it updated immediately solely within the plan without an apply, and it certainly isn’t never updated.