github.com/chalford/terraform@v0.3.7-0.20150113080010-a78c69a8c81f/website/source/docs/commands/remote.html.markdown (about) 1 --- 2 layout: "docs" 3 page_title: "Command: remote" 4 sidebar_current: "docs-commands-remote" 5 description: |- 6 The `terraform remote` command is used to configure Terraform to make 7 use of remote state storage, change remote storage configuration, or 8 to disable it. 9 --- 10 11 # Command: remote 12 13 The `terraform remote` command is used to configure use of remote 14 state storage. By default, Terraform persists its state only to a local 15 disk. When remote state storage is enabled, Terraform will automatically 16 fetch the latest state from the remote server when necessary and if any 17 updates are made, the newest state is persisted back to the remote server. 18 In this mode, users do not need to durably store the state using version 19 control or shared storaged. 20 21 ## Usage 22 23 Usage: `terraform remote [options]` 24 25 The `remote` command can be used to enable remote storage, change configuration, 26 or disable the use of remote storage. Terraform supports multiple types 27 of storage backends, specified by using the `-backend` flag. By default, 28 Atlas is assumed to be the storage backend. Each backend expects different, 29 configuration arguments documented below. 30 31 When remote storage is enabled, an existing local state file can be migrated. 32 By default, `remote` will look for the "terraform.tfstate" file, but that 33 can be specified by the `-state` flag. If no state file exists, a blank 34 state will be configured. 35 36 When remote storage is disabled, the existing remote state is migrated 37 to a local file. This defaults to the `-state` path during restore. 38 39 The following backends are supported: 40 41 * Atlas - Stores the state in Atlas. Requires the `-name` and `-access-token` flag. 42 The `-address` flag can optionally be provided. 43 44 * Consul - Stores the state in the KV store at a given path. 45 Requires the `path` flag. The `-address` and `-access-token` 46 flag can optionally be provided. Address is assumed to be the 47 local agent if not provided. 48 49 * HTTP - Stores the state using a simple REST client. State will be fetched 50 via GET, updated via POST, and purged with DELETE. Requires the `-address` flag. 51 52 The command-line flags are all optional. The list of available flags are: 53 54 * `-address=url` - URL of the remote storage server. Required for HTTP backend, 55 optional for Atlas and Consul. 56 57 * `-access-token=token` - Authentication token for state storage server. 58 Required for Atlas backend, optional for Consul. 59 60 * `-backend=Atlas` - Specifies the type of remote backend. Must be one 61 of Atlas, Consul, or HTTP. Defaults to Atlas. 62 63 * `-backup=path` - Path to backup the existing state file before 64 modifying. Defaults to the "-state" path with ".backup" extension. 65 Set to "-" to disable backup. 66 67 * `-disable` - Disables remote state management and migrates the state 68 to the `-state` path. 69 70 * `-name=name` - Name of the state file in the state storage server. 71 Required for Atlas backend. 72 73 * `-path=path` - Path of the remote state in Consul. Required for the 74 Consul backend. 75 76 * `-pull=true` - Controls if the remote state is pulled before disabling. 77 This defaults to true to ensure the latest state is cached before disabling. 78 79 * `-state=path` - Path to read state. Defaults to "terraform.tfstate" 80 unless remote state is enabled. 81