Terraform S3 Native Locking Demo

This project demonstrates the use of Terraform v1.10+ with native S3 backend locking, a new feature that eliminates the need for a DynamoDB table when managing Terraform state.

🚀 What's New?

Terraform now supports native .tflock files in S3. By enabling use_lockfile = true in your backend configuration, Terraform will automatically manage state locks using S3 — no external lock tables needed.

📁 Project Structure

.
├── main.tf          # Creates a sample S3 bucket
├── backend.tf       # Configures S3 backend with native locking
├── variables.tf     # Input variables for region and bucket name
└── outputs.tf       # (Optional) Outputs to show bucket details

🛠️ Prerequisites

• Terraform v1.10 or later
• S3 bucket must exist (Terraform backend cannot create it)

🌐 Backend Configuration (backend.tf)

terraform {
  backend "s3" {
    bucket        = "akshay-my-terraform-state-bucket"
    key           = "state/terraform.tfstate"
    region        = "us-east-1"
    encrypt       = true
    use_lockfile  = true
  }
}

✅ Make sure the S3 bucket is created and versioning is enabled before initializing.

🪣 Sample Resource (main.tf)

resource "aws_s3_bucket" "demo" {
  bucket = var.bucket_name

  tags = {
    Name        = "Terraform S3 Demo"
    Environment = "Dev"
  }
}

📦 Initialize & Apply

terraform init
terraform apply

During apply, you’ll see a .tflock file appear in your S3 bucket. It disappears automatically when the plan/apply completes

🔐 Benefits of Native Locking

• No need for DynamoDB
• Easier setup and maintenance
• Saved cost by removing DynamoDB

📘 References

• Terraform v1.10 Release Notes
• Terraform S3 Backend Documentation

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