LifeCycle Rules

In this lesson, we’ll dive into OpenTofu’s lifecycle rules to control how resources are created, updated, or destroyed. Proper use of these rules helps you avoid downtime, accidental deletions, and unnecessary modifications.

Default Behavior
create_before_destroy
prevent_destroy
ignore_changes
Summary of Lifecycle Rules
Further Reading

Default Behavior

By default, OpenTofu will destroy and then recreate any resource if a change requires replacement (for example, updating an AMI in an aws_instance).

resource "aws_instance" "cerberus" {
  ami           = "ami-2158c0f087598787a"
  instance_type = "m5.large"

  tags = {
    Name = "Cerberus-Webserver"
  }
}

After changing the ami value and running tofu apply, you’ll see:

$ tofu apply
...
Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 1 to destroy.
...
aws_instance.cerberus: Destroying... [id=i-0abcd1234efgh567a]
aws_instance.cerberus: Creation complete after 1m2s [id=i-1wxyz9876uvgh5432]
Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 1 destroyed.

1. create_before_destroy

Use create_before_destroy = true to provision the replacement resource before tearing down the old one. This helps minimize downtime.

resource "aws_instance" "cerberus" {
  ami           = "ami-2158c0f087598787a"
  instance_type = "m5.large"

  tags = {
    Name = "Cerberus-Webserver"
  }

  lifecycle {
    create_before_destroy = true
  }
}

Running tofu apply now provisions the new instance first:

$ tofu apply
...
Plan: 1 to add, 0 to change, 1 to destroy.
...
aws_instance.cerberus: Creating...
aws_instance.cerberus: Creation complete after 1m1s [id=i-9abcd1234mnop678]
aws_instance.cerberus: Destroying... [id=i-0abcd1234efgh567a]
Apply complete! Resources: 1 added, 0 changed, 1 destroyed.

2. prevent_destroy

Set prevent_destroy = true to block any accidental deletion during an apply. OpenTofu will throw an error if a change requires replacement.

resource "aws_instance" "cerberus" {
  ami           = "ami-2158c0f087598787a"
  instance_type = "m5.large"

  tags = {
    Name = "Cerberus-Webserver"
  }

  lifecycle {
    prevent_destroy = true
  }
}

If you change the AMI and run tofu apply, you’ll get:

$ tofu apply
Error: Instance aws_instance.cerberus must be replaced
  on main.tf line 2, in resource "aws_instance" "cerberus":
   2: resource "aws_instance" "cerberus" {
Resource aws_instance.cerberus has lifecycle prevent_destroy set, but plan requires resource to be replaced. This operation would destroy the existing resource.

prevent_destroy does not block a direct tofu destroy. It only prevents destruction during apply operations triggered by configuration changes.

3. ignore_changes

The ignore_changes meta-argument instructs OpenTofu to skip tracking specified attributes, even if they drift from your configuration.

resource "aws_instance" "cerberus" {
  ami           = "ami-2158c0f087598787a"
  instance_type = "m5.large"

  tags = {
    Name = "Cerberus-Webserver-1"
  }

  lifecycle {
    ignore_changes = [
      tags
    ]
  }
}

If someone updates the Name tag manually in the AWS console, tofu apply reports no changes:

$ tofu apply
aws_instance.cerberus: Refreshing state... [id=i-1234567890abcdef0]
Apply complete! Resources: 0 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.

You can ignore multiple attributes, or even all changes:

resource "aws_instance" "cerberus" {
  ami           = "ami-2158c0f087598787a"
  instance_type = "m5.large"

  tags = {
    Name = "Cerberus-Webserver-2"
  }

  lifecycle {
    ignore_changes = all
  }
}

$ tofu apply
aws_instance.cerberus: Refreshing state... [id=i-1234567890abcdef0]
Apply complete! Resources: 0 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.

Use ignore_changes = all cautiously. Ignoring all drift may mask unintended configuration drift over time.

Summary of Lifecycle Rules

Rule	Description	Example
create_before_destroy	Provision the new resource before destroying the old to minimize downtime.	`create_before_destroy = true`
prevent_destroy	Block any destructive change during `apply`, protecting critical resources.	`prevent_destroy = true`
ignore_changes	Skip specific attribute changes or all drift between config and real-world state.	`ignore_changes = [tags]` or `all`
Default (no lifecycle)	Replace resources by destroying then recreating whenever a change requires resource replacement.	N/A

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

Table of Contents

Default Behavior

1. create_before_destroy

2. prevent_destroy

3. ignore_changes

Summary of Lifecycle Rules

Further Reading

Watch Video

​Table of Contents

​Default Behavior

​1. create_before_destroy

​2. prevent_destroy

​3. ignore_changes

​Summary of Lifecycle Rules

​Further Reading

Watch Video

Table of Contents

Default Behavior

1. create_before_destroy

2. prevent_destroy

3. ignore_changes

Summary of Lifecycle Rules

Further Reading