terraform/website/docs/cli/commands/state/rm.html.md

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docs	Command: state rm	docs-commands-state-sub-rm	The `terraform state rm` command removes items from the Terraform state.

Command: state rm

The terraform state rm command is used to remove items from the Terraform state. This command can remove single resources, single instances of a resource, entire modules, and more.

Usage

Usage: terraform state rm [options] ADDRESS...

Remove one or more items from the Terraform state.

Items removed from the Terraform state are not physically destroyed. Items removed from the Terraform state are only no longer managed by Terraform. For example, if you remove an AWS instance from the state, the AWS instance will continue running, but terraform plan will no longer see that instance.

There are various use cases for removing items from a Terraform state file. The most common is refactoring a configuration to no longer manage that resource (perhaps moving it to another Terraform configuration/state).

The state will only be saved on successful removal of all addresses. If any specific address errors for any reason (such as a syntax error), the state will not be modified at all.

This command will output a backup copy of the state prior to saving any changes. The backup cannot be disabled. Due to the destructive nature of this command, backups are required.

This command requires one or more addresses that point to a resources in the state. Addresses are in resource addressing format.

The command-line flags are all optional. The list of available flags are:

• -backup=path - Path where Terraform should write the backup state. This can't be disabled. If not set, Terraform will write it to the same path as the statefile with a backup extension.

• -state=path - Path to a Terraform state file to use to look up Terraform-managed resources. By default it will use the configured backend, or the default "terraform.tfstate" if it exists.

• -ignore-remote-version - When using the enhanced remote backend with Terraform Cloud, continue even if remote and local Terraform versions differ. This may result in an unusable Terraform Cloud workspace, and should be used with extreme caution.

Example: Remove a Resource

The example below removes the packet_device resource named worker:

$ terraform state rm 'packet_device.worker'

Example: Remove a Module

The example below removes the entire module named foo:

$ terraform state rm 'module.foo'

Example: Remove a Module Resource

The example below removes the packet_device resource named worker inside a module named foo:

$ terraform state rm 'module.foo.packet_device.worker'

Example: Remove a Resource configured with count

The example below removes the first instance of a packet_device resource named worker configured with count:

$ terraform state rm 'packet_device.worker[0]'

Example: Remove a Resource configured with for_each

The example below removes the "example" instance of a packet_device resource named worker configured with for_each:

Linux, Mac OS, and UNIX:

$ terraform state rm 'packet_device.worker["example"]'

PowerShell:

$ terraform state rm 'packet_device.worker[\"example\"]'

Windows cmd.exe:

$ terraform state rm packet_device.worker[\"example\"]