How to Remove Resources in a Remote State File Managed by Terraform Cloud

Introduction

This article details how to use the cloud backend to remove resources within a workspace managed by Terraform Cloud or Terraform Enterprise.

Use Case

Removing specific resources is useful in the following scenarios:

• When Terraform performed a partial apply, leaving the state file in a condition where it does not reflect reality.
• When the resource was manually deleted from the cloud provider and the state file needs to be updated.

Procedure

The remote backend stores the Terraform state and may be used to run state operations in Terraform Cloud/Enterprise. terraform state supports all sub-commands: (list, mv, pull, push, rm, show)

1. Ensure that the backend is defined in the Terraform configuration.

   terraform {
     cloud {
       hostname = "my-tfe-hostname" # Optional for TFC 
       organization = "my-org"
   
       workspaces {
         name = "my-workspace"
       }
     }
   }
   

   Note: For versions older than Terraform v1.1.0 and Terraform Enterprise v202201-1, you should use the remote block instead:

   terraform {
     backend "remote" {
       hostname = "my-tfe-hostname" # app.terraform.io for TFC 
       organization = "my-org"
   
       workspaces {
         name = "my-workspace"
       }
     }
   }

2. Run terraform init to initialize the backend. You may need to run terraform login as well if your local environment is not authenticated with Terraform Cloud/Enterprise
3. Run terraform state list to list all resources managed by the state file.

   $ terraform state list
   null_resource.testing

4. Run terraform state rm RESOURCE.ADDRESS to remove the resource.

   $ terraform state rm null_resource.testing 
   Removed null_resource.testing 
   
   Successfully removed 1 resource instance(s).

After the resource has been identified, targeted, and removed, check the TFC/TFE Workspace’s State tab to verify that a new state has been updated.

Additional Information

• cloud Backend Documentation
• remote Backend Documentation