Demo OpenTofu State Commands

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll master OpenTofu state commands to manage your Terraform state file. We’ll cover how to:

List resources in state
Inspect resource attributes
Retrieve specific IDs
Remove resources from state
Work with a remote S3 backend
Rename resources in both configuration and state

Table of State Commands

Command	Description
`tofu state list`	List all resources tracked in the state file
`tofu state show`	Display all attributes for a resource
`tofu state rm`	Remove one or more resources from state
`tofu state mv`	Rename a resource in the state

1. Inspecting State Resource Names

First, navigate to your project directory and list the tracked resources:

cd ~/opentofu-projects/project-anime/
tofu state list

You should see output similar to:

local_file.classics
local_file.hall_of_fame
local_file.new_shows
local_file.top10

These correspond to the resource blocks in main.tf:

resource "local_file" "top10" {
  filename = "/root/anime/top10.txt"
  content  = "1. Naruto\n2. DragonBallZ\n3. Death Note\n"
}

resource "local_file" "hall_of_fame" {
  filename = "/root/anime/hall-of-fame.txt"
  content  = "1. Attack On Titan\n2. Naruto\n3. Bleach\n"
}

resource "local_file" "new_shows" {
  filename = "/root/anime/new_shows.txt"
  content  = "1. Cannon Busters\n2. Last Hope\n3. Lost Song\n"
}

resource "local_file" "classics" {
  filename = "/root/anime/classic_shows.txt"
  content  = "1. DragonBall\n"
}

Any resource not listed (e.g., super_pets) is not managed in the current state.

2. Showing Resource Attributes

To view every attribute stored for a single resource, run:

tofu state show local_file.classics

Example output:

# local_file.classics:
resource "local_file" "classics" {
  content               = "<<EOT\n1. DragonBall\nEOT"
  content_base64sha256  = "61ybEEB9hy2PJuJ30dyB1jDrngh76EV9R9KSA4="
  content_base64sha512  = "lKrYdMr2TokTZk1xL17LfPlLxUld8Z7uGL4vFq/Ko1Bq0yJ6w="
  content_md5           = "content_md5"
  content_sha1          = "content_sha1"
  content_sha256        = "content_sha256"
  content_sha512        = "content_sha512"
  directory_permission  = "755"
  file_permission       = "644"
  filename              = "/root/anime/classic_shows.txt"
  id                    = "8ac5abf90e9a20aa8e3b49f248d568f2367b2"
}

The tofu state show command only reads the state—your infrastructure remains unchanged.

3. Retrieving the ID of a Resource

If you need a resource’s unique identifier (e.g., to reference it elsewhere), use:

tofu state show local_file.top10

Look for the id = line. It might appear as:

id = "961e7f431c2b8a09f1b2d3a4e5b6c7d8e9f0a1b2"

4. Removing a Resource from State

To stop managing a resource without destroying it, remove its block from main.tf and then:

tofu state rm local_file.hall_of_fame

Sample session:

$ tofu state rm local_file.hall_of_fame
Removed local_file.hall_of_fame
Successfully removed 1 resource instance(s).

Verify removal:

tofu state list

tofu state rm does not delete actual resources. It only detaches them from Terraform’s state.

5. Working with Remote State (S3 Backend)

In /root/OpenTofu/project/super-pets/, configure an S3 backend in tofu.tf:

terraform {
  backend "s3" {
    bucket = "my-remote-state"
    key    = "super-pets/terraform.tfstate"
    region = "us-east-1"
  }
}

Define two random_pet resources in main.tf:

resource "random_pet" "super_pet_1" {
  length    = var.length1
  prefix    = var.prefix1
  separator = "-"
}

resource "random_pet" "super_pet_2" {
  length    = var.length2
  prefix    = var.prefix2
  separator = "-"
}

And variables:

variable "length1" { default = 1 }
variable "length2" { default = 2 }
variable "prefix1" { default = "Super" }
variable "prefix2" { default = "Wonder" }

Since the state is stored remotely, all tofu state commands will interact with S3. To confirm:

tofu state show random_pet.super_pet_1

Output:

# random_pet.super_pet_1:
id        = "Super-grackle"
length    = 1
prefix    = "Super"
separator = "-"

6. Finding the ID of `super_pet_2`

Similarly, retrieve the ID for the second pet:

tofu state show random_pet.super_pet_2

Example:

# random_pet.super_pet_2:
id        = "Wonder-super-pup"
length    = 2
prefix    = "Wonder"
separator = "-"

7. Renaming a Resource in Config and State

To rename random_pet.super_pet_1 to random_pet.ultra_pet:

Update main.tf:

resource "random_pet" "ultra_pet" {
  length    = var.length1
  prefix    = var.prefix1
  separator = "-"
}

resource "random_pet" "super_pet_2" {
  length    = var.length2
  prefix    = var.prefix2
  separator = "-"
}

Move it in the state:

tofu state mv random_pet.super_pet_1 random_pet.ultra_pet

Verify:

tofu state list
# Outputs: random_pet.ultra_pet, random_pet.super_pet_2

Thank you for following this tutorial on OpenTofu state management!

Course Introduction

Introduction to Infrastructure as Code

OpenTofu Basics

OpenTofu State

Working with OpenTofu

Remote State

OpenTofu Provisioners

OpenTofu Import, Tainting Resources and Deubugging

OpenTofu Modules

OpenTofu Functions and Conditional Expressions

OpenTofu: Beyond Basics

Course Conclusion

Getting Started with OpenTofu

Demo OpenTofu State Commands

Table of State Commands

1. Inspecting State Resource Names

2. Showing Resource Attributes

3. Retrieving the ID of a Resource

4. Removing a Resource from State

5. Working with Remote State (S3 Backend)

6. Finding the ID of `super_pet_2`

7. Renaming a Resource in Config and State

Links and References

Watch Video

Practice Lab

​Table of State Commands

​1. Inspecting State Resource Names

​2. Showing Resource Attributes

​3. Retrieving the ID of a Resource

​4. Removing a Resource from State

​5. Working with Remote State (S3 Backend)

​6. Finding the ID of super_pet_2

​7. Renaming a Resource in Config and State

​Links and References

Watch Video

Practice Lab

Table of State Commands

1. Inspecting State Resource Names

2. Showing Resource Attributes

3. Retrieving the ID of a Resource

4. Removing a Resource from State

5. Working with Remote State (S3 Backend)

6. Finding the ID of `super_pet_2`

7. Renaming a Resource in Config and State

Links and References