Does the command 'terraform refresh' modify the existing infrastructure?

The command 'terraform refresh' is designed to synchronize the Terraform state file with the real-world infrastructure, but it does not make any changes to the existing infrastructure itself. Instead, it reads the current state of the resources deployed in your cloud provider or environment and updates the state file to reflect any changes that have occurred outside of Terraform since the last time it was applied.

When you run 'terraform refresh', it updates the local state file with the most current configuration of resources, allowing Terraform to keep track of any modifications that may have occurred, such as manual changes in the cloud management console. The core functionality of this command revolves around ensuring that the Terraform state reflects the actual state of the infrastructure, rather than altering the infrastructure itself.

Choosing an answer that indicates that the command modifies existing infrastructure would misrepresent its function, as 'terraform refresh' strictly deals with updating the state file based on the observed state, without executing any creation, updates, or deletions of resources.