<p>Currently Terraform can <strong>NOT</strong> delete statefiles stored in remote backends. The feature request for this is <a href="https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/issues/34172" rel="nofollow noreferrer">34172</a>.</p>
<p>Now what you have to do is run</p>
<ul>
<li><code>gitlab terraform destroy</code> to have terraform remove all assets in the state file,</li>
<li>Either use the Gitlab REST API with Curl, or the GraphAPI to accomplish the deletion of the statefile. This process is documented on Gitlab.com <a href="https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/iac/terraform_state.html#remove-a-state-file-by-using-the-api" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/iac/terraform_state.html#remove-a-state-file-by-using-the-api</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-31T20:42:19.817Z
2023-10-31T20:42:19.817Z
Evan Carroll
<p>Currently I have a detached pipeline which uses the Terraform with the remote Gitlab backend.</p>
<p>How can I after the pipeline has run delete <strong>BOTH</strong> the assets created and the statefile?</p>

<terraform><gitlab>
How can I delete Terraform assets and statefiles created in a pipeline using the remote GitLab backend?
Evan Carroll
# How can I delete Terraform assets and statefiles created in a pipeline using the remote GitLab backend?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-10-31)

Currently I have a detached pipeline which uses the Terraform with the remote Gitlab backend.

How can I after the pipeline has run delete **BOTH** the assets created and the statefile?

**Tags:** terraform, gitlab


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2023-10-31. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Currently Terraform can **NOT** delete statefiles stored in remote backends. The feature request for this is [34172](https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/issues/34172).

Now what you have to do is run

* `gitlab terraform destroy` to have terraform remove all assets in the state file,
* Either use the Gitlab REST API with Curl, or the GraphAPI to accomplish the deletion of the statefile. This process is documented on Gitlab.com <https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/iac/terraform_state.html#remove-a-state-file-by-using-the-api>


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