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Troubleshooting a Terraform Locked State File Issue

This lab will demonstrate how to troubleshoot a Terraform locked state file issue. We will attempt to go through the different stages of deployment to try and deploy our configuration and work through the locked state file issue until we have successfully deployed our resources.

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Lab Info
Level
Intermediate
Last updated
Sep 25, 2025
Duration
30m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Deploy Your Backend Resources
    1. In the terminal, once logged into your instance, change to the s3 directory.
    2. In the s3 directory, edit the S3.tf file and either append a number or rename the bucket name in the file.
    3. Run the terraform fmt command.
    4. Now initialize your working directory.
    5. If initialization is successful, then apply your code and deploy your resources.
  2. Challenge

    Create the Lock
    1. Now change to the terraform directory.
    2. In the terraform directory, edit the main.tf file and add in your ami ,subnet_id, and vpc from the resource_ids.txt file.
    3. Run the terraform fmt command.
    4. Edit the backend.tf file and change the bucket name to the bucket name you used in the S3.tf file.
    5. Now initialize your working directory.
    6. If initialization is successful, then move step by step until you get to the apply stage.
    7. Run the terraform apply command but DO NOT type yes to confirm. Leave it at this step.
  3. Challenge

    Troubleshoot the Error and Deploy Your Resources
    1. In a new terminal session, log in to your lab instance.
    2. Go to the terraform directory.
    3. Run the terraform apply command.
    4. Fix the lock file error and deploy your resources to complete this lab.
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