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DevOps & Automation · Intermediate

Configuration Drift

Divergence between the actual configuration of a system and its intended, documented, or code-defined state.

Definition

Drift occurs through manual hotfixes, out-of-band changes, or partial updates. It causes inconsistent behavior across environments and failed deployments. IaC tools detect it (terraform plan, CloudFormation drift detection) and GitOps agents can auto-correct it.

Example

Someone opens port 22 on a security group in the console; the next terraform plan shows a change to revert it.

Exam tip

Know the detection tool for each platform: terraform plan, CloudFormation drift detection, Azure Policy, Argo CD out-of-sync status.

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