github.com/loicalbertin/terraform@v0.6.15-0.20170626182346-8e2583055467/website/docs/commands/init.html.markdown (about) 1 --- 2 layout: "docs" 3 page_title: "Command: init" 4 sidebar_current: "docs-commands-init" 5 description: |- 6 The `terraform init` command is used to initialize a Terraform configuration. This is the first command that should be run for any new or existing Terraform configuration. It is safe to run this command multiple times. 7 --- 8 9 # Command: init 10 11 The `terraform init` command is used to initialize a working directory 12 containing Terraform configuration files. This is the first command that should 13 be run after writing a new Terraform configuration or cloning an existing one 14 from version control. It is safe to run this command multiple times. 15 16 ## Usage 17 18 Usage: `terraform init [options] [DIR]` 19 20 Initialize a new or existing Terraform working directory by creating 21 initial files, loading any remote state, downloading modules, etc. 22 23 This is the first command that should be run for any new or existing 24 Terraform configuration per machine. This sets up all the local data 25 necessary to run Terraform that is typically not committed to version 26 control. 27 28 This command is always safe to run multiple times. Though subsequent runs 29 may give errors, this command will never delete your configuration or 30 state. Even so, if you have important information, please back it up prior 31 to running this command, just in case. 32 33 If no arguments are given, the configuration in this working directory 34 is initialized. 35 36 The command-line flags are all optional. The list of available flags are: 37 38 * `-backend=true` - Initialize the [backend](/docs/backends) for this configuration. 39 40 * `-backend-config=path` This can be either a path to an HCL file with key/value 41 assignments (same format as terraform.tfvars) or a 'key=value' format. This is 42 merged with what is in the configuration file. This can be specified multiple 43 times. The backend type must be in the configuration itself. 44 45 * `-force-copy` Suppress prompts about copying state data. This is 46 equivalent to providing a "yes" to all confirmation prompts. 47 48 * `-get=true` Download any modules for this configuration. 49 50 * `-get-plugins=true` Download any missing plugins for this configuration. 51 52 * `-input=true` Ask for input if necessary. If false, will error if 53 input was required. 54 55 * `-lock=true` Lock the state file when locking is supported. 56 57 * `-lock-timeout=0s` Duration to retry a state lock. 58 59 * `-no-color` If specified, output won't contain any color. 60 61 * `-plugin-dir` Directory containing plugin binaries. This overrides all 62 default search paths for plugins, and prevents the automatic installation of 63 plugins. This flag can be used multiple times. 64 65 * `-reconfigure` Reconfigure the backend, ignoring any saved configuration. 66 67 * `-upgrade=false` If installing modules (-get) or plugins (-get-plugins), 68 ignore previously-downloaded objects and install the latest version allowed 69 within configured constraints. 70 71 * `-verify-plugins=true` Verify the authenticity and integrity of automatically 72 downloaded plugins. 73 74 ## Backend Config 75 76 The `-backend-config` can take a path or `key=value` pair to specify additional 77 backend configuration when [initializing a backend](/docs/backends/init.html). 78 79 This is particularly useful for 80 [partial configuration of backends](/docs/backends/config.html). Partial 81 configuration lets you keep sensitive information out of your Terraform 82 configuration. 83 84 For path values, the backend configuration file is a basic HCL file with key/value pairs. 85 The keys are configuration keys for your backend. You do not need to wrap it 86 in a `terraform` block. For example, the following file is a valid backend 87 configuration file for the Consul backend type: 88 89 ```hcl 90 address = "demo.consul.io" 91 path = "newpath" 92 ``` 93 94 If the value contains an equal sign (`=`), it is parsed as a `key=value` pair. 95 The format of this flag is identical to the `-var` flag for plan, apply, 96 etc. but applies to configuration keys for backends. For example: 97 98 ```shell 99 $ terraform init \ 100 -backend-config 'address=demo.consul.io' \ 101 -backend-config 'path=newpath' 102 ``` 103 104 These two formats can be mixed. In this case, the values will be merged by 105 key with keys specified later in the command-line overriding conflicting 106 keys specified earlier.