Command: force-unlock
The terraform force-unlock command manually unlocks the state for the defined configuration.
Usage
terraform force-unlock [options] LOCK_ID
Local state files cannot be unlocked by another process.
LOCK_ID is the unique ID output when Terraform acquires the lock. You can find this ID in the error message when another process holds the lock:
Error: Error acquiring the state lock
Error message: ConditionalCheckFailedException: The conditional request failed
Lock Info:
ID: a1b2c3d4-1234-5678-90ab-abcdefghijkl
Path: example-bucket/terraform.tfstate
Operation: OperationTypeApply
Who: user@hostname
Version: 1.7.0
Created: 2024-01-15 10:30:45.123456789 +0000 UTC
Info:
LOCK_ID is a1b2c3d4-1234-5678-90ab-abcdefghijkl.
Options
-force - Don’t ask for input for unlock confirmation. Use with caution.
When to Use
Use terraform force-unlock when:
- A Terraform command was interrupted (for example, by killing the process or a network failure)
- The lock has become stuck and is preventing you from running Terraform commands
- You are certain that no other Terraform processes are running
Be very careful with this command. If you force-unlock state while another process is actively using it, you may corrupt your state file or cause unexpected behavior.
Confirmation Prompt
Unless the -force flag is specified, Terraform will prompt you for confirmation before unlocking:
$ terraform force-unlock a1b2c3d4-1234-5678-90ab-abcdefghijkl
Do you really want to force-unlock?
Terraform will remove the lock on the remote state.
This will allow local Terraform commands to modify this state, even though it
may still be in use. Only 'yes' will be accepted to confirm.
Enter a value: yes
Example
Unlock state with confirmation prompt:
terraform force-unlock a1b2c3d4-1234-5678-90ab-abcdefghijkl
terraform force-unlock -force a1b2c3d4-1234-5678-90ab-abcdefghijkl