{"id":32467,"date":"2026-05-03T08:27:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T08:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/?p=32467"},"modified":"2026-05-03T08:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T08:27:08","slug":"terraform-backend-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/terraform-backend-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Terraform Backend Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Terraform is a popular open-source infrastructure as code tool used to create and manage infrastructure resources. The state of the infrastructure resources managed by Terraform is stored in a backend, which can be a remote storage location such as Amazon S3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To configure Terraform to use an S3 backend, you will need to perform the following steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Create an S3 bucket – create a new S3 bucket or use an existing one for storing the Terraform state file.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Create an S3 access key – generate an access key and secret key with the appropriate permissions for accessing the S3 bucket.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Configure Terraform backend – add the following code block to your Terraform configuration file, replacing the values with your specific S3 bucket and access key information:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    List of Terraform Backends Options (May 2026)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    #<\/th>Terraform Backend<\/th>Supported in latest Terraform v1.15.x May 2026<\/th>Used For \/ Cloud<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    1<\/td>local<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Local machine state file<\/td><\/tr>
    2<\/td>remote<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>HCP Terraform \/ Terraform Enterprise<\/td><\/tr>
    3<\/td>s3<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>AWS S3 remote state<\/td><\/tr>
    4<\/td>azurerm<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Azure Storage Account backend<\/td><\/tr>
    5<\/td>gcs<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Google Cloud Storage backend<\/td><\/tr>
    6<\/td>consul<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>HashiCorp Consul state backend<\/td><\/tr>
    7<\/td>cos<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Tencent Cloud Object Storage<\/td><\/tr>
    8<\/td>http<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Generic HTTP remote backend<\/td><\/tr>
    9<\/td>kubernetes<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Kubernetes Secret-based state<\/td><\/tr>
    10<\/td>oci<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage<\/td><\/tr>
    11<\/td>oss<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service<\/td><\/tr>
    12<\/td>pg<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>PostgreSQL backend<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Terraform uses backends to determine how the state is loaded and how an operation such as apply<\/code> is executed. The backend configuration can control where the state is stored and how the operations are executed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here’s a list of commonly used Terraform backends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Local<\/strong>:\n
        \n
      • Stores state on the local filesystem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Remote<\/strong>:\n
          \n
        • Uses the Terraform Cloud to store state and optionally execute operations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • It’s the default backend for Terraform Cloud workspaces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Consul<\/strong>:\n
            \n
          • Stores the state in Consul’s key\/value store.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • AzureRM<\/strong>:\n
              \n
            • Stores the state in an Azure Storage Blob.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • S3<\/strong>:\n
                \n
              • Stores state in an Amazon S3 bucket.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • It can use DynamoDB for state locking and consistency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Google Cloud Storage (GCS)<\/strong>:\n
                  \n
                • Stores state in a Google Cloud Storage bucket.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Swift<\/strong>:\n
                    \n
                  • Stores state in OpenStack Swift.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Artifactory<\/strong>:\n
                      \n
                    • Stores state in JFrog Artifactory.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Etcd V2 & V3<\/strong>:\n
                        \n
                      • Store the state in Etcd’s key\/value store.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      • Manta<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                          \n
                        • Stores the state in Joyent’s Manta service.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                            \n
                          1. OSS<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                              \n
                            • Stores state in Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                            • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                                \n
                              1. Pg<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                                  \n
                                • Stores state within a configured PostgreSQL database.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                                    \n
                                  1. Kubernetes<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                                      \n
                                    • Stores state within a Kubernetes Secret.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                                    • Executes operations locally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                                      \n\n\n
                                      terraform {\n  backend \"s3\"<\/span> {\n    bucket = \"your-bucket-name\"<\/span>\n    key    = \"path\/to\/terraform.tfstate\"<\/span>\n    region = \"your-aws-region\"<\/span>\n    access_key = \"your-access-key\"<\/span>\n    secret_key = \"your-secret-key\"<\/span>\n  }\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> JavaScript<\/span> (<\/span>javascript<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
                                      \n\n\n\n
                                      Initialize the backend – run the terraform init<\/code> command to initialize the backend configuration and create the state file in the S3 bucket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
                                      \n\n\n
                                      terraform {\n  required_providers {\n    aws = {\n      source  = \"hashicorp\/aws\"<\/span>\n      version = \"~> 4.0\"<\/span>\n    }\n  }\n  backend \"s3\"<\/span> {\n    bucket = \"art54654654546546456\"<\/span>\n    key    = \"aug\"<\/span>\n    region = \"ap-south-1\"<\/span>\n\taccess_key = \"\"<\/span>\n    secret_key = \"\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\n\n\n# Configure the AWS Provider<\/span>\nprovider \"aws\"<\/span> {\n  region = \"ap-south-1\"<\/span>\n  access_key = \"\"<\/span>\n  secret_key = \"\"<\/span>\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
                                      \n\n\n\n
                                      Terraform Backend Credentail Pass Through Command line<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                                      $ terraform init -backend-config=”access_key=ASSSSSSSSSSSSSY” -backend-config=”secret_key=VddddddddddddddG” -reconfigure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
                                      How to Setup Terraform Backend with Azure Blob Container?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                                      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                                      \n\n\n
                                      terraform {\n  required_providers {\n    azurerm = {\n      source = \"hashicorp\/azurerm\"<\/span>\n      version = \"3.75.0\"<\/span>\n    }\n\taws = {\n      source = \"hashicorp\/aws\"<\/span>\n      version = \"5.20.0\"<\/span>\n    }\n\tgithub = {\n      source = \"integrations\/github\"<\/span>\n      version = \"5.39.0\"<\/span>\n    }\n  }\n  backend \"azurerm\"<\/span> {\n    resource_group_name  = \"eksuw01-rg\"<\/span>\n    storage_account_name = \"eksuw01sa\"<\/span>\n    container_name       = \"rajesh\"<\/span>\n    key                  = \"prod.terraform.tfstate\"<\/span>\n\tsubscription_id = \"b3dbe884-c3dc\"<\/span>\n    client_id       = \"6046fe74-dfd2-4\"<\/span>\n    client_secret   = \"3XJ8Q~uvlwVL\"<\/span>\n    tenant_id       = \"f34c8fc4-16b\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\nprovider \"azurerm\"<\/span> {\n  features {}\n  subscription_id = \"b3dbe884c\"<\/span>\n  client_id       = \"6046fe74-d\"<\/span>\n  client_secret   = \"3XJ8Q~uvlwV\"<\/span>\n  tenant_id       = \"f34c8fc4-1\"<\/span>\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> JavaScript<\/span> (<\/span>javascript<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
                                      \n\n\n
                                      # aws-main.tf<\/span>\n\nterraform {\n  required_providers {\n    aws = {\n      source  = \"hashicorp\/aws\"<\/span>\n      version = \"~> 5.0\"<\/span>\n    }\n  }\n\n  backend \"s3\"<\/span> {\n    bucket         = \"my-terraform-state-bucket\"<\/span>\n    key            = \"aws\/lab\/terraform.tfstate\"<\/span>\n    region         = \"ap-south-1\"<\/span>\n    dynamodb_table = \"terraform-locks\"<\/span>\n    encrypt        = true<\/span>\n  }\n}\n\nprovider \"aws\"<\/span> {\n  region = \"ap-south-1\"<\/span>\n}\n\nresource \"aws_instance\"<\/span> \"demo_vm\"<\/span> {\n  ami           = \"ami-0f58b397bc5c1f2e8\"<\/span>\n  instance_type = \"t2.micro\"<\/span>\n\n  tags = {\n    Name = \"aws-demo-vm\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n
                                      # gcp-main.tf<\/span>\n\nterraform {\n  required_providers {\n    google = {\n      source  = \"hashicorp\/google\"<\/span>\n      version = \"~> 5.0\"<\/span>\n    }\n  }\n\n  backend \"gcs\"<\/span> {\n    bucket = \"my-gcp-terraform-state-bucket\"<\/span>\n    prefix = \"gcp\/lab\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\n\nprovider \"google\"<\/span> {\n  project = \"my-gcp-project-id\"<\/span>\n  region  = \"asia-south1\"<\/span>\n  zone    = \"asia-south1-a\"<\/span>\n}\n\nresource \"google_compute_instance\"<\/span> \"demo_vm\"<\/span> {\n  name         = \"gcp-demo-vm\"<\/span>\n  machine_type = \"e2-micro\"<\/span>\n  zone         = \"asia-south1-a\"<\/span>\n\n  boot_disk {\n    initialize_params {\n      image = \"debian-cloud\/debian-12\"<\/span>\n    }\n  }\n\n  network_interface {\n    network = \"default\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n
                                      # azure-main.tf<\/span>\n\nterraform {\n  required_providers {\n    azurerm = {\n      source  = \"hashicorp\/azurerm\"<\/span>\n      version = \"~> 4.0\"<\/span>\n    }\n  }\n\n  backend \"azurerm\"<\/span> {\n    resource_group_name  = \"rg-terraform-state\"<\/span>\n    storage_account_name = \"mystatestorageacct\"<\/span>\n    container_name       = \"tfstate\"<\/span>\n    key                  = \"azure\/lab\/terraform.tfstate\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\n\nprovider \"azurerm\"<\/span> {\n  features {}\n}\n\nresource \"azurerm_resource_group\"<\/span> \"demo_rg\"<\/span> {\n  name     = \"rg-demo-vm\"<\/span>\n  location = \"East US\"<\/span>\n}\n\nresource \"azurerm_virtual_network\"<\/span> \"demo_vnet\"<\/span> {\n  name                = \"demo-vnet\"<\/span>\n  address_space       = [\"10.0.0.0\/16\"<\/span>]\n  location            = azurerm_resource_group.demo_rg.location\n  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.demo_rg.name\n}\n\nresource \"azurerm_subnet\"<\/span> \"demo_subnet\"<\/span> {\n  name                 = \"demo-subnet\"<\/span>\n  resource_group_name  = azurerm_resource_group.demo_rg.name\n  virtual_network_name = azurerm_virtual_network.demo_vnet.name\n  address_prefixes     = [\"10.0.1.0\/24\"<\/span>]\n}\n\nresource \"azurerm_network_interface\"<\/span> \"demo_nic\"<\/span> {\n  name                = \"demo-nic\"<\/span>\n  location            = azurerm_resource_group.demo_rg.location\n  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.demo_rg.name\n\n  ip_configuration {\n    name                          = \"internal\"<\/span>\n    subnet_id                     = azurerm_subnet.demo_subnet.id\n    private_ip_address_allocation = \"Dynamic\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\n\nresource \"azurerm_linux_virtual_machine\"<\/span> \"demo_vm\"<\/span> {\n  name                = \"azure-demo-vm\"<\/span>\n  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.demo_rg.name\n  location            = azurerm_resource_group.demo_rg.location\n  size                = \"Standard_B1s\"<\/span>\n  admin_username      = \"azureuser\"<\/span>\n\n  network_interface_ids = [\n    azurerm_network_interface.demo_nic.id\n  ]\n\n  admin_ssh_key {\n    username   = \"azureuser\"<\/span>\n    public_key = file(\"~\/.ssh\/id_rsa.pub\"<\/span>)\n  }\n\n  os_disk {\n    caching              = \"ReadWrite\"<\/span>\n    storage_account_type = \"Standard_LRS\"<\/span>\n  }\n\n  source_image_reference {\n    publisher = \"Canonical\"<\/span>\n    offer     = \"ubuntu-24_04-lts\"<\/span>\n    sku       = \"server\"<\/span>\n    version   = \"latest\"<\/span>\n  }\n}\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
                                      Terraform is a popular open-source infrastructure as code tool used to create and manage infrastructure resources. The state of the infrastructure resources managed by Terraform is stored… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32467"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75338,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32467\/revisions\/75338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}