github.com/wikibal01/hashicorp-terraform@v0.11.12-beta1/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](/guides/running-terraform-in-automation.html). 25 26 ## Usage 27 28 Usage: `terraform plan [options] [dir-or-plan]` 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 * `-destroy` - If set, generates a plan to destroy all the known resources. 41 42 * `-detailed-exitcode` - Return a detailed exit code when the command exits. 43 When provided, this argument changes the exit codes and their meanings to 44 provide more granular information about what the resulting plan contains: 45 * 0 = Succeeded with empty diff (no changes) 46 * 1 = Error 47 * 2 = Succeeded with non-empty diff (changes present) 48 49 * `-input=true` - Ask for input for variables if not directly set. 50 51 * `-lock=true` - Lock the state file when locking is supported. 52 53 * `-lock-timeout=0s` - Duration to retry a state lock. 54 55 * `-module-depth=n` - Specifies the depth of modules to show in the output. 56 This does not affect the plan itself, only the output shown. By default, 57 this is -1, which will expand all. 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). 68 69 * `-refresh=true` - Update the state prior to checking for differences. 70 71 * `-state=path` - Path to the state file. Defaults to "terraform.tfstate". 72 Ignored when [remote state](/docs/state/remote.html) is used. 73 74 * `-target=resource` - A [Resource 75 Address](/docs/internals/resource-addressing.html) to target. This flag can 76 be used multiple times. See below for more information. 77 78 * `-var 'foo=bar'` - Set a variable in the Terraform configuration. This flag 79 can be set multiple times. Variable values are interpreted as 80 [HCL](/docs/configuration/syntax.html#HCL), so list and map values can be 81 specified via this flag. 82 83 * `-var-file=foo` - Set variables in the Terraform configuration from 84 a [variable file](/docs/configuration/variables.html#variable-files). If 85 a `terraform.tfvars` or any `.auto.tfvars` files are present in the current 86 directory, they will be automatically loaded. `terraform.tfvars` is loaded 87 first and the `.auto.tfvars` files after in alphabetical order. Any files 88 specified by `-var-file` override any values set automatically from files in 89 the working directory. This flag can be used multiple times. 90 91 ## Resource Targeting 92 93 The `-target` option can be used to focus Terraform's attention on only a 94 subset of resources. 95 [Resource Address](/docs/internals/resource-addressing.html) syntax is used 96 to specify the constraint. The resource address is interpreted as follows: 97 98 * If the given address has a _resource spec_, only the specified resource 99 is targeted. If the named resource uses `count` and no explicit index 100 is specified in the address, all of the instances sharing the given 101 resource name are targeted. 102 103 * If the given address _does not_ have a resource spec, and instead just 104 specifies a module path, the target applies to all resources in the 105 specified module _and_ all of the descendent modules of the specified 106 module. 107 108 This targeting capability is provided for exceptional circumstances, such 109 as recovering from mistakes or working around Terraform limitations. It 110 is *not recommended* to use `-target` for routine operations, since this can 111 lead to undetected configuration drift and confusion about how the true state 112 of resources relates to configuration. 113 114 Instead of using `-target` as a means to operate on isolated portions of very 115 large configurations, prefer instead to break large configurations into 116 several smaller configurations that can each be independently applied. 117 [Data sources](/docs/configuration/data-sources.html) can be used to access 118 information about resources created in other configurations, allowing 119 a complex system architecture to be broken down into more managable parts 120 that can be updated independently. 121 122 ## Security Warning 123 124 Saved plan files (with the `-out` flag) encode the configuration, 125 state, diff, and _variables_. Variables are often used to store secrets. 126 Therefore, the plan file can potentially store secrets. 127 128 Terraform itself does not encrypt the plan file. It is highly 129 recommended to encrypt the plan file if you intend to transfer it 130 or keep it at rest for an extended period of time. 131 132 Future versions of Terraform will make plan files more 133 secure.