State Management

State management is crucial for maintaining infrastructure with Terraform. This guide covers best practices for managing Terraform state effectively and securely.

Remote State Storage

Use Remote Backend

Always use a remote backend for state storage:

terraform {
  backend "azurerm" {
    resource_group_name  = "tfstate"
    storage_account_name = "tfstate${random_string.suffix.result}"
    container_name       = "tfstate"
    key                 = "prod.terraform.tfstate"
  }
}

Backend Options by Cloud Provider

• AWS: S3 with DynamoDB for state locking

• Azure: Azure Storage Account with blob container

• GCP: Google Cloud Storage bucket

• HashiCorp: Terraform Cloud/Enterprise

State File Security

1. Encryption at Rest

   • Enable encryption for storage backends

   • Use customer-managed keys where available

2. Access Control

   • Implement least-privilege access

   • Use separate state files for different environments

   • Enable version control on storage containers

State Organization

State Separation

Maintain separate states for:

• Different environments (dev, staging, prod)

• Different regions

• Different business units or applications

Example structure:

└── terraform/
    ├── prod/
    │   ├── main.tf
    │   └── backend.tf
    ├── staging/
    │   ├── main.tf
    │   └── backend.tf
    └── dev/
        ├── main.tf
        └── backend.tf

State Operations Best Practices

1. State Locking

   • Always enable state locking

   • Use a robust locking mechanism (e.g., DynamoDB for AWS)

2. Regular Backups

   • Enable versioning on state storage

   • Implement regular backup procedures

3. State Manipulation

   • Avoid manual state manipulation

   • Use terraform state commands when necessary

   • Document any state changes

Common Commands

# List resources in state
terraform state list

# Move an item in state
terraform state mv aws_instance.example aws_instance.new_name

# Remove an item from state
terraform state rm aws_instance.example

# Show state contents
terraform show

Workspaces

Use workspaces for managing multiple states of the same configuration:

# Create and switch to a new workspace
terraform workspace new dev

# List available workspaces
terraform workspace list

# Switch between workspaces
terraform workspace select prod

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. State Lock Issues

   • Check for stale locks

   • Use terraform force-unlock as a last resort

2. State Corruption

   • Restore from backup

   • Use state push/pull carefully

3. Performance Issues

   • Split large states into smaller ones

   • Use -refresh=false for faster plans

Best Practices Checklist

• Remote backend configured

• State locking enabled

• Encryption at rest enabled

• Access controls implemented

• Regular backups configured

• State separated by environment

• Workspace strategy defined

• Documentation updated

Related Topics

• Terraform Security - Securing your state files and credentials
• Code Organization - Structuring projects for optimal state management
• GitHub Actions Integration - Automating state management in CI/CD
• Azure DevOps Pipelines - State management with Azure DevOps