You have a Terraform configuration that defines a single virtual machine with no references to it, You have run terraform apply to create the resource, and then removed the resource definition from yo

The correct answer is D. Terraform will destroy the virtual machine. This is what will happen if you run terraform apply in the working directory again, after removing the resource definition from your Terraform configuration file. Terraform will detect that there is a resource in the state file that is not present in the configuration file, and w

Submitted by rohit_dlh· Apr 18, 2026Manage Terraform State

Question

You have a Terraform configuration that defines a single virtual machine with no references to it, You have run terraform apply to create the resource, and then removed the resource definition from your Terraform configuration file. What will happen you run terraform apply in the working directory again?

Options

ATerraform will remove the virtual machine from the state file, but the resource will still exist
BNothing
CTerraform will error
DTerraform will destroy the virtual machine

How the community answered

(36 responses)

B
3% (1)
C
3% (1)
D
94% (34)

Explanation

This is what will happen if you run terraform apply in the working directory again, after removing the resource definition from your Terraform configuration file. Terraform will detect that there is a resource in the state file that is not present in the configuration file, and will assume that you want

Topics

#Terraform State Management#Resource Destruction#Terraform Apply Command#Configuration Reconciliation

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