Apply

The terraform apply command executes the actions proposed in a Terraform plan to create, update, or delete infrastructure to match your configuration.

What It Does

When you run terraform apply, Terraform:

Generates an execution plan (unless applying a saved plan)
Prompts for approval (unless using -auto-approve or a saved plan)
Executes the plan by making API calls to providers
Updates the state file to reflect the new infrastructure state
Displays resource changes and outputs after completion

When to Use It

Run terraform apply when you want to:

Create new infrastructure resources
Update existing infrastructure to match configuration changes
Apply a previously saved plan file
Provision infrastructure in a new environment
Roll out configuration changes to production

Basic Usage

Run terraform apply

Apply changes to your infrastructure:

terraform apply

Terraform will generate a plan and prompt for approval:

Terraform will perform the following actions:

  # aws_instance.web will be created
  + resource "aws_instance" "web" {
      + ami           = "ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0"
      + instance_type = "t2.micro"
      + id            = (known after apply)
      + public_ip     = (known after apply)
    }

Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.

Do you want to perform these actions?
  Terraform will perform the actions described above.
  Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve.

  Enter a value:

Review and approve

Type yes to proceed:

  Enter a value: yes

aws_instance.web: Creating...
aws_instance.web: Still creating... [10s elapsed]
aws_instance.web: Still creating... [20s elapsed]
aws_instance.web: Creation complete after 25s [id=i-0123456789abcdef]

Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.

Outputs:

instance_public_ip = "54.123.45.67"

Verify the changes

Check that resources were created successfully:

terraform state list

Example output:

aws_instance.web
aws_security_group.web

Applying Saved Plans

Generate a plan

First, create and save a plan:

terraform plan -out=tfplan

Apply the saved plan

Execute the exact plan without prompting:

terraform apply tfplan

Example output:

aws_instance.web: Creating...
aws_instance.web: Creation complete after 28s [id=i-0123456789abcdef]

Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 to changed, 0 destroyed.

Note: Terraform does not prompt for approval when applying a saved plan.

Common Flags and Options

Auto-Approval

-auto-approve Skip the interactive approval prompt:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Example output:

aws_instance.web: Creating...
aws_instance.web: Creation complete after 30s [id=i-0123456789abcdef]

Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.

Warning: Use with caution, especially in production environments.

Destroy Mode

-destroy Destroy all managed infrastructure:

terraform apply -destroy

This is equivalent to:

terraform destroy

Example output:

Plan: 0 to add, 0 to change, 5 to destroy.

Do you really want to destroy all resources?
  Terraform will destroy all your managed infrastructure, as shown above.
  There is no undo. Only 'yes' will be accepted to confirm.

  Enter a value: yes

aws_instance.web: Destroying... [id=i-0123456789abcdef]
aws_instance.web: Destruction complete after 15s

Apply complete! Resources: 0 added, 0 changed, 5 destroyed.

Targeting Resources

-target=RESOURCE Apply changes only to specific resources:

terraform apply -target=aws_instance.web

Example output:

Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.

Warning: Resource targeting is in effect

You are creating a plan with the -target option. This means that Terraform
will only manage the targeted resources and their dependencies.

Do you want to perform these actions?
  Enter a value: yes

aws_instance.web: Creating...
aws_instance.web: Creation complete after 25s [id=i-0123456789abcdef]

Multiple targets:

terraform apply \
  -target=aws_instance.web \
  -target=aws_security_group.web

-replace=RESOURCE Force replacement of a specific resource:

terraform apply -replace=aws_instance.web

Example output:

aws_instance.web: Destroying... [id=i-old]
aws_instance.web: Destruction complete after 20s
aws_instance.web: Creating...
aws_instance.web: Creation complete after 30s [id=i-new]

Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 1 destroyed.

Variables

-var Set variable values from the command line:

terraform apply -var="environment=production" -var="instance_count=3"

-var-file Load variables from a file:

terraform apply -var-file="production.tfvars"

State Management

-backup=PATH Path to backup the state file (default: -state-out path with “.backup” extension):

terraform apply -backup=terraform.tfstate.backup

-lock=false Disable state locking (dangerous):

terraform apply -lock=false

Warning: Only use when absolutely necessary and you’re certain no one else is running Terraform. -lock-timeout=DURATION Wait for a state lock:

terraform apply -lock-timeout=5m

-state=PATH and -state-out=PATH Legacy options for local backend only:

terraform apply -state=terraform.tfstate -state-out=terraform.tfstate.new

Output Control

-compact-warnings Show warnings in compact form:

terraform apply -compact-warnings

-no-color Disable colored output:

terraform apply -no-color

-input=false Disable interactive prompts:

terraform apply -input=false

Performance

-parallelism=N Limit concurrent operations (default: 10):

terraform apply -parallelism=20

Best Practices

Plan Before Apply

Always review changes before applying:

# Best practice: Review before applying
terraform plan -out=tfplan
# Review the plan output carefully
terraform apply tfplan

Use Auto-Approve Sparingly

Avoid -auto-approve in production:

# Good for development/testing
terraform apply -auto-approve

# Better for production
terraform plan -out=prod.tfplan
# Review plan with team
terraform apply prod.tfplan

State Backups

Terraform automatically creates backups, but you can create manual backups:

# Before major changes
cp terraform.tfstate terraform.tfstate.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d)
terraform apply

Incremental Rollouts

Use -target for incremental deployments:

# Deploy infrastructure layer by layer
terraform apply -target=module.network
terraform apply -target=module.database
terraform apply -target=module.application

# Finally, apply everything
terraform apply

Handle Sensitive Outputs

Be aware that outputs are displayed after apply:

output "database_password" {
  value     = aws_db_instance.main.password
  sensitive = true  # Prevents display in output
}

CI/CD Integration

In automated pipelines:

# CI/CD pipeline example
terraform init -input=false
terraform plan -out=tfplan -input=false

# Wait for approval (manual gate)

terraform apply tfplan

Error Recovery

If apply fails mid-execution, Terraform updates state for completed resources:

# State reflects partial changes
terraform state list

# Fix the error and re-run
terraform apply

Resource Replacement Awareness

Be cautious with resources marked for replacement:

  # aws_db_instance.main will be replaced
-/+ resource "aws_db_instance" "main" {
      # Replacing will cause data loss!
    }

Consider:

Backing up data before replacement
Using lifecycle rules to prevent replacement:

resource "aws_db_instance" "main" {
  # ...
  lifecycle {
    prevent_destroy = true
  }
}

Workspace Awareness

Verify you’re in the correct workspace:

terraform workspace show
# Output: production

terraform apply

Understanding Apply Output

Progress Indicators

aws_instance.web: Creating...
aws_instance.web: Still creating... [10s elapsed]
aws_instance.web: Still creating... [20s elapsed]
aws_instance.web: Creation complete after 25s [id=i-0123456789abcdef]

Resource Actions

Action	Description	Example
Creating…	Resource is being created	`aws_instance.web: Creating...`
Modifying…	Resource is being updated	`aws_instance.web: Modifying...`
Destroying…	Resource is being deleted	`aws_instance.web: Destroying...`
Reading…	Data source is being read	`data.aws_ami.ubuntu: Reading...`

Summary Line

Apply complete! Resources: 5 added, 2 changed, 1 destroyed.

This shows:

5 added: New resources created
2 changed: Existing resources updated
1 destroyed: Resources deleted

Outputs Display

After apply, Terraform displays outputs:

Outputs:

instance_public_ip = "54.123.45.67"
instance_private_ip = "10.0.1.25"
db_endpoint = "mydb.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com:5432"

Troubleshooting

Apply Hangs

If apply seems stuck:

# Enable debug logging
TF_LOG=DEBUG terraform apply

# Check provider API rate limits
# Check network connectivity

State Lock Errors

Error: Error acquiring the state lock

Lock Info:
  ID:        abc123
  Path:      s3://my-bucket/terraform.tfstate
  Operation: OperationTypeApply
  Who:       user@hostname
  Version:   1.6.0
  Created:   2024-01-15 10:30:00 UTC

Solution:

# Wait for lock to be released
terraform apply -lock-timeout=10m

# Or force unlock (dangerous)
terraform force-unlock abc123

Failed Apply with Partial Changes

Error: Error creating instance

Apply complete! Resources: 3 added, 1 changed, 0 destroyed.

State is updated for completed resources. Fix errors and re-run:

# Check what was created
terraform state list

# Fix the error in configuration
terraform apply

Provider Authentication Errors

Error: Error configuring AWS Provider:
  no valid credentials sources found

Solution:

# Set credentials
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-access-key"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="your-secret-key"

terraform apply

Cannot Destroy Dependencies

Error: Instance cannot be destroyed

aws_instance.web depends on aws_security_group.web

Solution: Terraform handles dependencies automatically. If this occurs, check for circular dependencies.

Next Steps

After successful apply:

Verify resources in your cloud provider console
Test your infrastructure
Commit state file changes (if using version control for state)
Document any manual post-apply steps
Use terraform output to retrieve output values

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Configuration Language

Workflow

State Management

Providers

Advanced Features

​Apply

​What It Does

​When to Use It

​Basic Usage

​Applying Saved Plans

​Common Flags and Options

​Auto-Approval

​Destroy Mode

​Targeting Resources

​Variables

​State Management

​Output Control

​Performance

​Best Practices

​Plan Before Apply

​Use Auto-Approve Sparingly

​State Backups

​Incremental Rollouts

​Handle Sensitive Outputs

​CI/CD Integration

​Error Recovery

​Resource Replacement Awareness

​Workspace Awareness

​Understanding Apply Output

​Progress Indicators

​Resource Actions

​Summary Line

​Outputs Display

​Troubleshooting

​Apply Hangs

​State Lock Errors

​Failed Apply with Partial Changes

​Provider Authentication Errors

​Cannot Destroy Dependencies

​Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Apply

What It Does

When to Use It

Basic Usage

Applying Saved Plans

Common Flags and Options

Auto-Approval

Destroy Mode

Targeting Resources

Variables

State Management

Output Control

Performance

Best Practices

Plan Before Apply

Use Auto-Approve Sparingly

State Backups

Incremental Rollouts

Handle Sensitive Outputs

CI/CD Integration

Error Recovery

Resource Replacement Awareness

Workspace Awareness

Understanding Apply Output

Progress Indicators

Resource Actions

Summary Line

Outputs Display

Troubleshooting

Apply Hangs

State Lock Errors

Failed Apply with Partial Changes

Provider Authentication Errors

Cannot Destroy Dependencies

Next Steps