Terraform destroy not working. I was creating GCP projects (default Feb 3, 2024 · By setting prevent_destroy = true, Terraform will refuse to delete this resource, even if a terraform destroy command is issued. 88. prevent_destroy = true on each DynamoDB table. example lifecycle { destroy = false } } Jul 6, 2018 · When you run terraform plan, you know to add --var-file options, then you should feed the same to terraform destroy terraform destroy -var-file=dev. Terraform will than check the current state of and compare it to the desired state, working out what needs to be changed in order to get to the desired state. tfvars Otherwise, destroy doesn't know your environment. Using plain terraform is does without complaining: Hi there, I want to set up lifecycle{create_before_destroy=true} for virtual machine scale set so if I am modifying the os_profile of VM and run terraform apply again then it should create new vmss Jun 8, 2023 · Identify and resolve five common errors encountered when using Terraform for infrastructure management. Sep 7, 2021 · I have setup terraform for AWS infrastructure but was not able to set a workflow where I can trigger destroying of the infrastructure created using Terraform Plan/Apply. I was expecting the module doorman to be completely destroyed before starting the destroy on the aws-load-balancer-controller. Mar 3, 2022 · However, it was not deleted and was still visible through the AWS console. This safeguards your key infrastructure components against accidental deletion but requires manual adjustment to remove this protection when you intend to delete the resource. repeated "terraform destroy" does not work. Jul 23, 2025 · Terraform destroy command will destroy all the resources created by Terraform in the current working directory. Apr 11, 2017 · I think the holistic fix here is to change how destroy provisioners work so that during apply we include the fully-resolved destroy provisioner configs as part of the instance state, and then when we destroy those instances we use the stashed config in the state to destroy them, thus avoiding the direct dependency on config during destroy. Defaults to the "-state-out" path with ". Additionally when importing a bucket, a successful terraform apply is required to set this value in state before it will take effect on a destroy operation. See full list on spacelift. Feb 26, 2024 · We added the -reconfigure to init to reuse cached plugins and modules (don't delete the . I use Terraform/Terragrunt to d Mar 2, 2016 · The Terraform state does not contain provider configuration or credentials, so there is not enough information in there to destroy objects. How can I workaround this? May 29, 2020 · For me this not consistent behaviour between terraform destroy and resource remove terraform apply is very confusing and looks like a bug to me. I am/want to using the terraform like this: create the AWS IAM groups and policies To support this, Terraform lets you target specific resources when you plan, apply, or destroy your infrastructure. While you will typically not want to destroy long-lived objects in a production environment, Terraform is sometimes used to manage ephemeral infrastructure for development purposes, in which case you can use terraform destroy to conveniently clean up Feb 9, 2021 · Do I need to create a snapshot. Dec 10, 2022 · Debug Output Expected Behavior terraform refresh should have run in the background each time terraform destroy is run ,just like the case of terraform apply. I'd like to think about this some more because while this does seem safer it also feels like this flow could be quite frustrating if e. \r\nVault: keyvaultname;location=westeurope" With the second approach, you ignore failed destroy errors. For more details from HashiCorp refer to this pinned issue on the Terraform AWS Provider. Jul 12, 2020 · Terraform destroy not work on docker container Asked 5 years, 3 months ago Modified 4 years, 9 months ago Viewed 369 times Interpret and fix a Terraform configuration with common configuration language errors and deploy an EC2 instance with security groups in AWS. It is very useful for many reasons. Dec 15, 2021 · Debug Output Panic Output Expected Behaviour On running terraform destroy, it should have deleted the deployment created under resource group Actual Behaviour Keep running for hours trying to destroy the deployment and have to manually cancel the operation in order to stop it running. Oct 7, 2019 · We recognize that this may cause a significant delay when running terraform destroy and are working with AWS to continue addressing the issue. Jan 12, 2021 · The when destroy AZ CLI command works as expected when terraform destroy command. Apr 16, 2024 · Expected Behaviour "terraform destroy" should destroy all resources successfully, the kv should end up soft-deleted Actual Behaviour rg and kv still exist, but kv is in failed state. Feb 4, 2015 · As I develop increasingly complicated Terraform configurations, I find that destroy pretty much never works. Jun 6, 2024 · Since this stage runs as a separate pipeline with no connection to previous stages, terraform destroy does not work properly even if I add dependency as deploy-sandbox and also add artifacts into the stage. Run and apply a destroy plan to remove all of your workspace's infrastructure. terraform destroy is intended for when you completely want to May 9, 2022 · I have very simple pipeline, classic pipeline with Terraform Init, Plan and Apply, how ever deployment failed in middle, so I wanted to destroy all resources… (backend is remote sitting on Azure blob Apr 4, 2016 · I want to avoid terraform to destroy the resources that I have created previously but instead create the new one. Any module called using a module block is not a root module. The destroy command executed and successfuly. Feb 16, 2025 · While terraform apply -target and terraform destroy -target are powerful, they should be used strategically to avoid unintended consequences. So if you have to create a resource and then apply some IAM policies to it, Tf will always destroy those policies before the resource. Several ways to troubleshooting terraform issues. Closing this - @jalateras feel free to follow up if there's still some other behavior you'd like to see here. To avoid confirming destroy each time, we added the -auto-approve flag. The Features Block The Azure Provider allows the behaviour of certain resources to be configured using the features block. tfvars, all the instance related information from terraform. tf file. Aug 3, 2020 · I have used Terraform extension in Azure devops pipeline and using the destroy command. Includes examples and best practices to help you get the job done quickly and easily. lifecycle { prevent_d As said in a reposnse with terraform you describe the state you want to have. This is one of a suite of Terraform related actions - find them at dflook/terraform-github-actions. To generate a plan that can be reviewed you can instead use the dflook/terraform-plan and dflook/terraform-apply actions with the destroy input set to true. Dec 3, 2019 · When destroying infrastructure with terraform destroy --force the variable asks for input, although the input does not matter. I have stored the tfstate in backend azure storage and pointed the same tfstate for apply and destroy. Through example-driven learning, this guide aims to equip you with the knowledge to effectively utilize these core commands and explore more complex Terraform configurations. Because the resources are in your state file (i. Terraform (terraform destroy)should have said no changes to be made since the infrastructure was already destroyed manually using console. But unfortunately destruction is completing without executing the provisioners… Jul 3, 2021 · When I try to terraform destroy -target module. Dec 2, 2021 · Key Vault service will automatically purge it after the retention period has passed. If you want to destroy a subset of resources you remove those resources from your tf file (or comment them out, or whatever), then run terraform apply. Learn what Terraform flag option is and how to use it with modules and plan, apply, and destroy commands. Remove a resource from your configuration. tf that resource is only docker_container my terraform version is Terraform v0. Changes in the configuration files are done in order to achieve the desired state. Destroy The terraform destroy command terminates resources managed by your Terraform project. This allows different users to select the behaviour they require, for example some users may wish for the OS Disks for a Virtual Machine to be removed automatically when the Virtual Machine is destroyed - whereas other users may wish for these OS Disks to be detached but Aug 20, 2019 · Because Terraform did not create the default VPCs it cannot destroy them. In order for us to protect database resources in a production environment we set lifecycle. You can’t control create and destroy order independently. There are two parts to the resources; the infrastructure part and the application part. e. what is managed elsewhere and should therefore not be changed by this Terraform configuration at all. This page provides an overview of the meta-arguments included with Terraform. See examples and when to avoid using it. Jul 19, 2024 · terraform destroy does not work for virtual machines if extensions are enabled and the vm is turned off #26705 Jun 6, 2019 · Hi, i am using terraform version 0. Clean . We decided it was preferable to impose the slightly onerous requirement of Feb 28, 2025 · Whether it’s state file conflicts, provider issues, or mysterious dependency errors, Terraform troubleshooting can be frustrating—but it doesn’t have to be! Nov 20, 2014 · When destroying, terraform will first attempt to destroy the VPC and then the module. Please note: After running all these commands, don't forget to add terraform backend. May 22, 2025 · This document describes the implementation of the terraform destroy and terraform import commands in terraform-exec. You can also add a depends_on argument to manually enforce dependencies between the two resources. In my early days with Terraform I too had this assumption, but Jun 18, 2020 · The destroy command indicates that terraform intends to destroy all resources, then -target reduces the graph down to the minimum set of downstream dependencies starting at the targeted resources. you've already committed some reorganization to your version control that includes removing a resource and then Terraform refuses to apply it until you revert However, when create_before_destroy is used Terraform must continue to store the to-be-deleted resource in the state while the desired resource is being created, so it marks the to-be-deleted resource with a "deposed" status. 11. The minimum required to successfully destroy is all of the provider blocks for the providers that created all of the existing resources, along with any variable blocks they depend on. tfstate terraform. io Learn how to skip errors when destroying Terraform infrastructure with this comprehensive guide. Steps to Reproduce terraform apply change resource ami (to force new resource) run terraform apply again References Destroy provisioners not working if resource is deleted manually #13097 (related?) (Trivial example: an EC2 instance has API termination disabled and the reviewers didn't notice, so Terraform can't destroy it. Backed by real-world scenarios and community discussions, this guide helps you understand when and why taint is the preferred choice for resource recreation. kops, both modules are destroyed simultaneously and the depends_on is not followed by terraform on the destroy order. Until recently, I did this sequentially with a shell for loop. It is a useful command for tearing down your infrastructure when you no longer need it. I have 6 information systems in my project that require scheduled terraform destroy for a number of workspaces per system each day. Jan 4, 2019 · I've started to see this issue in a new scenario. Sep 29, 2023 · If any of the commands fail then run a second “destroy everything” script that matches what the destroy provisioners would have done. g. 12. Apr 19, 2020 · The destroy argument determines whether Terraform will attempt to destroy the object managed by the resource or not. I haven't nailed down a trivial repro case yet, but since I don't think that will be eas Aug 19, 2024 · Log Analytics Workspace Storage Account In Terraform, when you link resources together via their resource type and name, an implicit dependency is automatically detected. How can I delete resources ? Is it possible to destroy resources without having conf files ? Dec 4, 2018 · terraform destroy -auto-approve From the docs: This [destroy] command accepts all the arguments and flags that the apply command accepts, with the exception of a plan file argument. I tried to do terraform destroy again, but it did not work because, according to terraform, there were no changes to do as the resources were already deleted. And of course terraform destroy -help says it's an alias for apply -destroy. Feb 11, 2025 · By applying these best practices, you can effectively manage Terraform challenges and optimize infrastructure as code. Thank you for taking the time to read this. 28 main. Targeting individual resources can be useful for troubleshooting errors, but should not be part of your normal workflow. Nov 15, 2022 · Community Note Please vote on this issue by adding a 👍 reaction to the original issue to help the community and maintainers prioritize this request Please do not leave "+1" or "me too" comments, they generate extra noise for issue followers and do not help prioritize the request If you are interested in working on this issue or have submitted a pull request, please leave a comment Terraform Sep 29, 2020 · Terraform tries to parallelise the destroy operations when no dependency is known between the resources. Unfortunately we cannot make this configurable as this is a limitation with Terraform. tfstate with the backup between plan and destroy steps that both operations expect the instance still exists. Terraform seems to destroy the underlying virtual machine resources (via vsphere provider) before applying the resource Update/Delete operations on the provider I wrote. resources need to be deleted manually. Set to "-" to disable backup. This is the same problem I came up against. How can I prevent this to happen? I have been struggling to get anything related to this online. . However, I was still able to see the VPC through AWS console. terraform folder between calls, it'll significantly speed up the process). The best practice is to always verify changes with terraform plan and ensure state consistency. Can a github action be trig Nov 23, 2022 · Terraform 5 2634 March 4, 2021 Terraform Destroy is not destroying the resources in Azure release pipeline Terraform 2 1895 September 3, 2021 Doesn't do destroy in Azure Azure azure 0 264 November 24, 2022 Using terraform in an DevOps Pipeline Terraform 1 710 January 15, 2021 Azure - state file stored on storage container is not working Feb 20, 2018 · terraform destroy -auto-approve flag provided but not defined: -auto-approve Usage: terraform destroy [options] [DIR] Destroy Terraform-managed infrastructure. tf variable "pm_api_url" { type = string } terraform { required_providers { proxmox = { source = "telmate/p Jul 6, 2021 · Expected Behavior Actual Behavior When i run terraform destroy i have the mentionned crash output. controlled by Terraform) but not in your config, Terraform will remove them. This doesn't make any sense, it has been working for days and now it doesn't run, silently, there's just not indication it's picking up the local-exec at all. what could be reason and what am i missing Oct 5, 2022 · Like it is mentioned in earlier answers there is no specific -force flag available with "terraform destroy" command perhaps because terraform deals with multiple resource dependences either while creating or destroying. Dec 21, 2020 · Per #27350 (comment), this seems to be an issue with Rosetta2 and providers for Terraform that have not been compiled for darwin_arm64. Jul 12, 2020 · I have a terrafom file with name main. It will help you to mitigate these type of error in the future. Jun 23, 2023 · Hi @lakshayarora476, The term “root module” normally refers to the module in same directory where you run terraform apply. You can use Terraform's -target option to target specific resources, modules, or collections of resources. The local-exec on destroy runs, but of course fails because the file doesn't exist. In this post we will focus primarily on two which are prevent_destroy and ignore_changes I have a small configuration where I will create an SQL server and a database in Azure. ⚠️ This action uses the terraform destroy command to immediately destroy all resources in a Terraform workspace. Steps to Reproduce No response Important Factoids No response References No response Sep 29, 2024 · Unable to destroy the vm here is my config provider. I want to perform first docker swarm leave on a VM which is going Jan 27, 2025 · How to Avoid Destroying Previously Created Resources with Terraform As more and more companies shift to Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with tools like Terraform, managing resources efficiently Dec 11, 2019 · Hi @gyoju, unfortunately this is working as intended. Additionally, we will cover best practices and considerations to ensure the effective and safe execution of terraform destroy within your infrastructure management processes. But that terminology difference aside, it seems like you have got caught in the trap of having a provider block inside your non-root module, which is not recommended in the docs precisely because this Meta-arguments are a class of arguments built into the Terraform configuration language that control how Terraform creates your infrastructure. Terraform plan and apply work fine, but destroy crashes with error Error: Failed to parse Aug 1, 2020 · I am testing a mysql_database resource inside a docker_container. Mar 26, 2024 · In this guide, we explore the essential elements of terraform destroy, unraveling why this command is a fundamental part of the Terraform workflow. Apr 5, 2017 · Actual Behavior Deposed resource destroyed without running the destroy provisioner. So I used the following approach. Destroy AWS infrastructure managed by Terraform. Feb 21, 2024 · When running the workflow, you will see the new resource imported in Terrafom plan step and will be destroyed in Terraform Destroy step. Sep 22, 2021 · New issue Closed Closed Terraform destroy not working #2560 Shaybs opened on Sep 22, 2021 Nov 3, 2015 · Also @lwander I tested terraform plan and terraform destroy as requested and did not hit any errors. The following is the step-by-step procedure before you execute terraform destroy: Backup Terraform state file: $ cp terraform. Jun 24, 2024 · In terraform we have something called a a lifecycle block. May 6, 2024 · Expected behavior If you pass the -auto-approve flag, it should destroy without asking for approval. mysql resource in windows, and after executing terraform destroy the previously created mysql_database resource is not destroyed (st Feb 1, 2019 · I'm hitting the same issue with openstack provider, during terraform destroy, terraform tries to destroy first the network while the network have floating ips created, I would expect terraform to delete any resource which depends on the network to destroy. How to use it Now, you can run it (remember to make it executable with chmod +x). So what it does is that it creates the resources and then destroy it again. Feb 3, 2024 · Terraform’s plan, apply, and destroy commands offer a methodical approach to infrastructure management, enabling precise control over deployment and teardown processes. Obviously terraform knows what resource is removed so if it keep the destroy command in the state it can invoke it on terraform apply when resource is removed. but the message is 0 destroyed and the resource and not removed. But it takes time when you run terraform init next time, it starts installing all providers and modules again. tf file is: provider "docker" { } #data "docker_registry_image" "bare Jan 22, 2024 · I wanted to destroy the DEV environment from my Kubernetes hosted on AWS EKS. This helps Terraform know in what order resources must be created and deleted. 0" and works fine with earlier version. Aug 21, 2024 · In this guide, we’ll explore "Terraform Prevent Destroy", how to implement prevent_destroy, when to use it, and how to manage common challenges. The VPC destruction will obviously fail while instances are still running in it, and a second destroy invocation will be required to cleanup the VPC. If setting this field in the same operation that would require replacing the bucket or destroying the bucket, this flag will not work. terraform to save the deployment time, you can run terraform get --update=true Most Feb 14, 2020 · I am using terraform to setup a docker swarm cluster on OpenStack along with using Ansible for configuration on newly created VMs. I replaced the terraform. These commands are part of the resource lifecycle management capabilities in Terraform, allowing users to remove resources from infrastructure (destroy) and bring existing infrastructure under Terraform management (import). 6 and aws as a provider. Nov 5, 2024 · @ckhordiasma 👋🏼 If the issue is still relevant, please comment with the output of terraform apply and terraform destroy, and I’ll be happy to reopen the investigation. I don’t think terraform destroy works like that. If -auto-approve is set, then the destroy confirmation will not be shown. If i run terraform init twice the issue does not happen I have no issue with terraform plan or terraform apply run Steps to Reproduce terraform init terraform destroy It's working with terraform init terraform init terraform destroy Additional Context Terraform running in gitlab-ci pipeline jobs Hey folks, I am getting my hands dirty with github actions. Options: -backup=path Path to backup the existing state file before modifying. May 27, 2024 · Best practices and considerations to ensure the effective and safe execution of ‘terraform destroy’ within your infra management processes. In addition to building and modifying infrastructure, Terraform can destroy or recreate the infrastructure it manages. A value of false means that Terraform will remove the resource from state without destroying it. #27350 (comment) has a work-around, and I would also recommend checking out this Discuss thread for more on M1 + terraform (this is more about tfenv than providers, though). Terraform builds a dependency graph as u/RulerOf stated, but the destroy order is just the inverse of the create order. backup. But this answer really helped me. I have a yml file where I have declared terraform destroy after the terrafrom apply command. This is always the first choice. This command is the inverse of terraform apply in that it terminates all the resources specified in your Terraform state. Jun 6, 2025 · Terraform init initializes the working directory which consists of all the configuration files Terraform plan is used to create an execution plan to reach a desired state of the infrastructure. Mar 15, 2018 · Run terraform apply again to actually destroy it. Issues seems to have started with version >= "2. Jul 1, 2024 · My terraform is continuously evolving, and it seems when i want to destroy, i need the original terraform code to destroy? I was hoping if i have access to backend s3 state, then by pointing to that backend and running terraform destroy (from anywhere, without having the original terraform, just having terragform binary), it should destroy Nov 29, 2023 · That is how you can explain to Terraform what is being managed by a particular configuration and therefore what should be destroyed (or forgotten) by terraform destroy, vs. Jun 13, 2024 · I have a python code that performs terraform plan, apply and destroy. This seemed to work but took a long time. You can use the -target option to destroy a particular resource and its dependencies. Learn best practices for logging application errors and reporting bugs. This would be functionally equivalent to and considerably simpler than a Terraform configuration that does all of this same work using provisioners. If you don't want to clean . Jan 23, 2019 · These options are undocumented, the terraform apply -help command says nothing about using -var-file. I refer you to hashicorp/terraform#3116. This snippet is Command: destroy The terraform destroy command is a convenient way to destroy all remote objects managed by a particular Terraform configuration. Sorry for the noob question. backup Initialize Terraform directory: $ terraform init This command initializes the Terraform working directory, ensuring all necessary plugins are downloaded and configured correctly. example resource, removed from configuration, # should not be destroyed, only removed from state removed { from = aws_instance. This can lead to the EKS cluster being destroyed before the Helm release itself. Dec 1, 2023 · # tells Terraform that the aws_instance. Such as your compute instances, databases & load balancers- basically everything. tfstate. I don't need to type in its value for it to be destroyed; any string w Oct 28, 2014 · Actually terraform destroy gained a -force flag some time ago. Jan 10, 2019 · EDIT--- As soon as I give the this command: terraform destroy -varfile=variables. terraform folder and rerun terraform init. May 20, 2025 · Terraform Destroy command tears down every resource defined in your . Review Terraform plan: $ terraform plan While not strictly Jul 5, 2021 · One of the only pieces of the puzzle I’m not able to get working correctly is destroying those resources or scaling them down gracefully. i am trying to execute remote-exec provisoner during the terraform destroy. tf root@ST:~/debian_iac# cat provider. But with Terraform Apply where Terraform automatically identify the resources needs to be destroyed doesn't execute the AZ CLI command with When Destroy. tfstate file gets removed and all the previous content of this file gets saved as backup to terraform. For example, if your Terraform configuration contained a aws_instance resource with the label example, you could destroy that resource with the following command. If so is it possible to do it directly in the console ? database terraform devops terraform-provider-aws asked Feb 9, 2021 at 11:47 Alexy Pulivelil 177113 2 Answers Sorted by: 3 If there is a Terraform Working Directory defined within the UI Workspace located under General Settings > Terraform Working Directory T erraform will then attempt to execute cd path/to/working/directory and will run the Terraform code located in this directory. The next destroy run should work without issues (as nothing will exist at that point) I have opened a bug report for terraform azurerm provider about this Oct 5, 2024 · Learn common reasons why your Terraform deployment for API Gateway stages might fail and how to troubleshoot them effectively. ) With our current setup, when that happens with one of my changes, I diagnose the problem myself and fix it, either manually or by making additional Terraform config changes, before pushing the correctly-applied config This blog explores Terraform Taint, highlighting its purpose, practical use cases, and how it compares to alternatives like terraform destroy. backup" extension. But still the instance is not deleted. I agree the comments from @rclement. While you could use terraform import to tell Terraform to take ownership of the VPCs, in which case Terraform would then assume it is responsible for managing them moving foward, to do that just to delete them will be a lot of work compared to just a simple script using the AWS CLI or SDK, because that is not a use-case Nov 12, 2021 · I have terraform state file only, don’t have conf file which were used to create resources . Apr 27, 2020 · I am working with Terraform V11 and AWS provider; I am looking for a way to prevent destroying few resources during the destroy phase. j2qxc 8q6gxi4 ka2o cm4cph 4apl lukyx wzpttsp j8yb5 0ogfq7 9t4bie