Which Terraform command validates the syntax and configuration without applying changes?

• A. terraform validate
• B. terraform apply
• C. terraform fmt
• D. terraform plan

Answer: (A)

The command that checks your Terraform code without making any changes is used to verify that the configuration is syntactically correct and internally consistent before you run anything that modifies real resources. It loads the configuration in your current directory, validates syntax, and ensures references (like variables and modules) are sane so Terraform can load and process the files. It does not contact providers, read or change any state, or apply changes.

This is different from applying, which would create, update, or destroy resources in your infrastructure. Formatting only tidies up the code’s appearance and does not validate logic. Planning, while it can reveal what would happen, is focused on showing changes rather than validating the correctness of the syntax and configuration itself.