How does Ansible differ from Terraform in deployment workflows?

How does Ansible differ from Terraform in deployment workflows?

• A. Terraform provisions infrastructure; Ansible configures it; Ansible is procedural
• B. Terraform provisions infrastructure; Ansible provisions it; Ansible is declarative
• C. Both are identical in their deployment roles
• D. Ansible provisions infrastructure; Terraform configures it

Answer: (A)

The main idea is how deployment workflows separate provisioning from configuration. Terraform provisions infrastructure by describing the desired resources (like compute instances, networks, and IAM), and it applies changes to reach that state. Ansible then configures those provisioned machines—installing software, applying settings, and ensuring services run—after they exist. Terraform uses a declarative approach, where you state what the infrastructure should look like and let the tool determine the steps to achieve it. Ansible is procedural in practice because you lay out a sequence of tasks to execute on the hosts. This combination—Terraform for provisioning and Ansible for configuration—best reflects how these tools are typically used together in deployment workflows.

The main idea is how deployment workflows separate provisioning from configuration. Terraform provisions infrastructure by describing the desired resources (like compute instances, networks, and IAM), and it applies changes to reach that state. Ansible then configures those provisioned machines—installing software, applying settings, and ensuring services run—after they exist. Terraform uses a declarative approach, where you state what the infrastructure should look like and let the tool determine the steps to achieve it. Ansible is procedural in practice because you lay out a sequence of tasks to execute on the hosts. This combination—Terraform for provisioning and Ansible for configuration—best reflects how these tools are typically used together in deployment workflows.