github.com/rstandt/terraform@v0.12.32-0.20230710220336-b1063613405c/website/docs/commands/plan.html.markdown (about) 1 --- 2 layout: "docs" 3 page_title: "Command: plan" 4 sidebar_current: "docs-commands-plan" 5 description: |- 6 The `terraform plan` command is used to create an execution plan. Terraform performs a refresh, unless explicitly disabled, and then determines what actions are necessary to achieve the desired state specified in the configuration files. The plan can be saved using `-out`, and then provided to `terraform apply` to ensure only the pre-planned actions are executed. 7 --- 8 9 # Command: plan 10 11 The `terraform plan` command is used to create an execution plan. Terraform 12 performs a refresh, unless explicitly disabled, and then determines what 13 actions are necessary to achieve the desired state specified in the 14 configuration files. 15 16 This command is a convenient way to check whether the execution plan for a 17 set of changes matches your expectations without making any changes to 18 real resources or to the state. For example, `terraform plan` might be run 19 before committing a change to version control, to create confidence that it 20 will behave as expected. 21 22 The optional `-out` argument can be used to save the generated plan to a file 23 for later execution with `terraform apply`, which can be useful when 24 [running Terraform in automation](https://learn.hashicorp.com/terraform/development/running-terraform-in-automation). 25 26 ## Usage 27 28 Usage: `terraform plan [options] [dir]` 29 30 By default, `plan` requires no flags and looks in the current directory 31 for the configuration and state file to refresh. 32 33 If the command is given an existing saved plan as an argument, the 34 command will output the contents of the saved plan. In this scenario, 35 the `plan` command will not modify the given plan. This can be used to 36 inspect a planfile. 37 38 The command-line flags are all optional. The list of available flags are: 39 40 * `-compact-warnings` - If Terraform produces any warnings that are not 41 accompanied by errors, show them in a more compact form that includes only 42 the summary messages. 43 44 * `-destroy` - If set, generates a plan to destroy all the known resources. 45 46 * `-detailed-exitcode` - Return a detailed exit code when the command exits. 47 When provided, this argument changes the exit codes and their meanings to 48 provide more granular information about what the resulting plan contains: 49 * 0 = Succeeded with empty diff (no changes) 50 * 1 = Error 51 * 2 = Succeeded with non-empty diff (changes present) 52 53 * `-input=true` - Ask for input for variables if not directly set. 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` - Disables output with coloring. 60 61 * `-out=path` - The path to save the generated execution plan. This plan 62 can then be used with `terraform apply` to be certain that only the 63 changes shown in this plan are applied. Read the warning on saved 64 plans below. 65 66 * `-parallelism=n` - Limit the number of concurrent operation as Terraform 67 [walks the graph](/docs/internals/graph.html#walking-the-graph). Defaults 68 to 10. 69 70 * `-refresh=true` - Update the state prior to checking for differences. 71 72 * `-state=path` - Path to the state file. Defaults to "terraform.tfstate". 73 Ignored when [remote state](/docs/state/remote.html) is used. 74 75 * `-target=resource` - A [Resource 76 Address](/docs/internals/resource-addressing.html) to target. This flag can 77 be used multiple times. See below for more information. 78 79 * `-var 'foo=bar'` - Set a variable in the Terraform configuration. This flag 80 can be set multiple times. Variable values are interpreted as 81 [HCL](/docs/configuration/syntax.html#HCL), so list and map values can be 82 specified via this flag. 83 84 * `-var-file=foo` - Set variables in the Terraform configuration from 85 a [variable file](/docs/configuration/variables.html#variable-files). If 86 a `terraform.tfvars` or any `.auto.tfvars` files are present in the current 87 directory, they will be automatically loaded. `terraform.tfvars` is loaded 88 first and the `.auto.tfvars` files after in alphabetical order. Any files 89 specified by `-var-file` override any values set automatically from files in 90 the working directory. This flag can be used multiple times. 91 92 ## Resource Targeting 93 94 The `-target` option can be used to focus Terraform's attention on only a 95 subset of resources. 96 [Resource Address](/docs/internals/resource-addressing.html) syntax is used 97 to specify the constraint. The resource address is interpreted as follows: 98 99 * If the given address has a _resource spec_, only the specified resource 100 is targeted. If the named resource uses `count` and no explicit index 101 is specified in the address (i.e. aws_instance.example[3]), all of the instances sharing the given 102 resource name are targeted. 103 104 * If the given address _does not_ have a resource spec, and instead just 105 specifies a module path, the target applies to all resources in the 106 specified module _and_ all of the descendent modules of the specified 107 module. 108 109 This targeting capability is provided for exceptional circumstances, such 110 as recovering from mistakes or working around Terraform limitations. It 111 is *not recommended* to use `-target` for routine operations, since this can 112 lead to undetected configuration drift and confusion about how the true state 113 of resources relates to configuration. 114 115 Instead of using `-target` as a means to operate on isolated portions of very 116 large configurations, prefer instead to break large configurations into 117 several smaller configurations that can each be independently applied. 118 [Data sources](/docs/configuration/data-sources.html) can be used to access 119 information about resources created in other configurations, allowing 120 a complex system architecture to be broken down into more manageable parts 121 that can be updated independently. 122 123 ## Security Warning 124 125 Saved plan files (with the `-out` flag) encode the configuration, 126 state, diff, and _variables_. Variables are often used to store secrets. 127 Therefore, the plan file can potentially store secrets. 128 129 Terraform itself does not encrypt the plan file. It is highly 130 recommended to encrypt the plan file if you intend to transfer it 131 or keep it at rest for an extended period of time. 132 133 Future versions of Terraform will make plan files more 134 secure.