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← All break/fix scenarios in Terraform

intermediateterraform-state~20 min

State Refuses to Restore from Backup

Reported symptoms

  • The state file is corrupted
  • The restore command fails with a checksum error
  • The plan produces unexpected changes

Evidence

  • · The state file checksum does not match
  • · The state file is partially readable
  • · The restore command output
Diagnosis and resolutionclick to reveal

Root cause

The state file checksum mismatches, indicating partial corruption. The state is not safe to apply against until restored from a clean source.

Remediation

1. Stop the apply. 2. Identify the corruption source. 3. Restore from a clean backup. 4. Verify the plan is empty. 5. Apply the recovery. 6. Document the incident.

Verification

The state is restored, the plan is empty, and the incident is documented.

Prevention

1. Enable state versioning. 2. Test backups regularly. 3. Store backups offsite. 4. Document the restore procedure.

State Refuses to Restore from Backup

The state file checksum mismatches, indicating partial corruption. The state is not safe to apply against until restored from a clean source.