Which command would typically be used to initialize a Terraform configuration?

The command "terraform init" is essential for setting up a new Terraform configuration. When you run this command, it initializes the working directory containing the Terraform configuration files. This process involves several key actions:

1. Provider Installation: Terraform checks for any defined providers in the configuration and downloads the necessary provider plugins from the Terraform Registry if they aren't already present in the local cache. This step ensures that Terraform has the required components to interact with the specified cloud providers or services.

2. Backend Initialization: If you are using a backend to store your Terraform state, like AWS S3 or HashiCorp's Terraform Cloud, this command will configure the backend settings so that Terraform knows where to store the state files securely.

3. Module Installation: If your configuration uses modules, terraform init will also download any external modules that are referenced in the configuration, making all the necessary files available for further operations.

By using this command at the start, you ensure that everything is ready for subsequent commands like terraform plan or terraform apply, which require an initialized environment to function effectively. This is why "terraform init" is the correct choice in this context.