github.com/jaredpalmer/terraform@v1.1.0-alpha20210908.0.20210911170307-88705c943a03/website/docs/cli/commands/destroy.html.md (about)

     1  ---
     2  layout: "docs"
     3  page_title: "Command: destroy"
     4  sidebar_current: "docs-commands-destroy"
     5  description: "The terraform destroy command destroys all objects managed by a Terraform configuration."
     6  ---
     7  
     8  # Command: destroy
     9  
    10  The `terraform destroy` command is a convenient way to destroy all remote
    11  objects managed by a particular Terraform configuration.
    12  
    13  While you will typically not want to destroy long-lived objects in a production
    14  environment, Terraform is sometimes used to manage ephemeral infrastructure
    15  for development purposes, in which case you can use `terraform destroy` to
    16  conveniently clean up all of those temporary objects once you are finished
    17  with your work.
    18  
    19  ## Usage
    20  
    21  Usage: `terraform destroy [options]`
    22  
    23  This command is just a convenience alias for the following command:
    24  
    25  ```
    26  terraform apply -destroy
    27  ```
    28  
    29  For that reason, this command accepts most of the options that
    30  [`terraform apply`](./apply.html) accepts, although it does
    31  not accept a plan file argument and forces the selection of the "destroy"
    32  planning mode.
    33  
    34  You can also create a speculative destroy plan, to see what the effect of
    35  destroying would be, by running the following command:
    36  
    37  ```
    38  terraform plan -destroy
    39  ```
    40  
    41  This will run [`terraform plan`](./plan.html) in _destroy_ mode, showing
    42  you the proposed destroy changes without executing them.
    43  
    44  -> **Note:** The `-destroy` option to `terraform apply` exists only in
    45  Terraform v0.15.2 and later. For earlier versions, you _must_ use
    46  `terraform destroy` to get the effect of `terraform apply -destroy`.