Understanding Terraform State

Learn how Terraform tracks infrastructure with state files

Understanding Terraform State

What Is State?

Terraform state (terraform.tfstate) maps your configuration to real-world infrastructure. It's Terraform's source of truth.

hcl

terraform {
  backend "azurerm" {
    storage_account_name = "mytfstate"
    container_name       = "tfstate"
    key                  = "prod.terraform.tfstate"
  }
}

Remote state enables team collaboration

State locks prevent concurrent corruption

Never edit .tfstate manually

💡Need a hint? (3 available)

#1Remote state enables team collaboration

#2State locking prevents concurrent access

#3Never edit .tfstate manually

🔑Show solution (try it yourself first!)

terraform {
  backend "azurerm" {
    storage_account_name = "mytfstate${random_string.suffix.result}"
    container_name       = "tfbackend"
    key                  = "dev.terraform.tfstate"
    resource_group_name  = "terraform-rg"
  }
}

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