Terraform State

Definitions

1. A JSON file (terraform.tfstate) or remote backend record that maps every Terraform-managed resource to its real-world counterpart, storing resource IDs, attributes, and metadata so Terraform can compute diffs between desired and actual infrastructure on each plan and apply cycle.

   In plain English: A record that Terraform keeps of what cloud resources it has created, so it knows what exists and what needs to change.

   Example: "Someone ran apply locally and now the Terraform state is out of sync with the remote backend — we need to import the orphaned resources."

Related Terms

• DHCP
• reverse proxy
• configuration drift
• Active-Active
• Warm Standby
• Terraform Module
• Terraform Provider
• Terraform Community