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Terraform CLI

Terraform could not acquire the state lock

Error acquiring the state lock.

Terraform could not continue because the backend reported that the state was already locked or could not be locked safely for a write operation.

Error acquiring the state lockstate

Observed message

Error acquiring the state lock.

Why it happens

  • Another Terraform operation is already holding the lock for the same state.
  • A previous run failed and left a stale lock behind.
  • The backend lock operation failed due to configuration or connectivity issues.

How to fix it

  1. Check whether another Terraform run is still active against the same state and wait for it to complete if so.
  2. Verify that the chosen backend supports locking and is configured correctly.
  3. Use terraform force-unlock only when you are certain the existing lock is stale and not owned by another active run.

Official reference

Terraform: State Locking

Related errors

Failed to marshal state to json: unsupported attributeTerraform failed to marshal state to JSON with unsupported attributeSaved plan does not match the given stateTerraform saved plan does not match the current stateSaved plan is staleTerraform saved plan is stalestate snapshot was created by Terraform vX, which is newer than current vYTerraform state was created by a newer Terraform version

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Terraform Error acquiring the state lock: causes and fixes | Error Atlas