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atmos terraform apply

Use this command to apply Terraform changes for an Atmos component in a stack. Supports both direct applies and applying from previously generated planfiles.

atmos terraform apply --help

Usage​

Execute the terraform apply command like this:

atmos terraform apply <component> -s <stack> [options]

This command applies Terraform changes to your infrastructure. You can:

  • Apply changes directly (generates a new plan and prompts for approval)
  • Apply a previously generated planfile using --from-plan
  • Apply a specific planfile using --planfile <path>
  • Auto-approve changes using -auto-approve
tip

For automated deployments, consider using atmos terraform deploy which automatically includes -auto-approve.

Examples​

Interactive Apply​

Apply changes interactively (you'll be prompted to approve):

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev

Apply from Previous Plan​

Apply using the planfile generated by a previous atmos terraform plan:

# First generate a plan
atmos terraform plan vpc -s dev

# Then apply using that plan
atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --from-plan

Apply Specific Planfile​

Apply a specific planfile:

# Using a custom planfile created earlier
atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --planfile /tmp/my-plan.tfplan

# Or relative to component directory
atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --planfile plans/vpc.tfplan

Auto-Approved Apply​

Apply changes without manual approval (use with caution):

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -auto-approve

Targeted Apply​

Apply changes only to specific resources:

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -target=aws_subnet.private

Planfile Usage​

Using Atmos-Generated Planfiles​

When you run atmos terraform plan, Atmos automatically generates a planfile with a standardized name. You can apply this planfile using the --from-plan flag:

# Generate the plan
atmos terraform plan vpc -s dev

# Review the plan output...

# Apply the exact plan that was generated
atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --from-plan

This ensures that only the changes you reviewed will be applied, with no risk of configuration drift between planning and applying.

Using Custom Planfiles​

If you generated a plan with a custom output path, use the --planfile flag:

# Generate plan to custom location
atmos terraform plan vpc -s dev -out=/tmp/vpc-dev.tfplan

# Apply that specific planfile
atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --planfile /tmp/vpc-dev.tfplan

Direct Apply (No Planfile)​

When neither --from-plan nor --planfile is specified, Atmos will:

  1. Generate a new plan
  2. Show the planned changes
  3. Prompt for approval (unless -auto-approve is used)
  4. Apply the changes if approved
atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev

Arguments​

component (required)

Atmos component name to apply.

Flags​

--stack / -s (required)

Atmos stack name where the component is defined.

--from-plan (optional)

Apply the planfile previously generated by atmos terraform plan.

The planfile must exist in the component directory with the standard Atmos naming convention.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --from-plan
--planfile (optional)

Apply a specific planfile at the given path.

Use this instead of the native Terraform planfile argument.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --planfile /path/to/plan.tfplan
--affected (optional)

Apply only affected components based on changes in the repository.

atmos terraform apply --affected
--all (optional)

Apply all components in all stacks (use with extreme caution).

atmos terraform apply --all
--dry-run (optional)

Show what would be executed without actually running the apply.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --dry-run
--skip-init (optional)

Skip running terraform init before applying.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --skip-init
--process-templates (optional)

Enable/disable Go template processing in Atmos stack manifests.

Default: true

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev --process-templates=false

Native Terraform Flags​

The atmos terraform apply command supports all native terraform apply flags. To pass native Terraform flags, you have two options:

  1. Direct flags - Pass Terraform flags directly if they don't conflict with Atmos flags
  2. Double-dash separator - Use -- to explicitly separate Atmos flags from Terraform flags
Using the Double-Dash Separator

The -- separator is a common Unix convention that indicates "end of options". Everything after -- is passed directly to Terraform without interpretation by Atmos. This is useful when:

  • You want to ensure a flag is passed to Terraform, not Atmos
  • You're using flags that might conflict with Atmos flags
  • You want to be explicit about which tool receives which flags

Example:

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -- -auto-approve -parallelism=20

Some commonly used native flags include:

-auto-approve

Apply changes without manual approval prompt.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -auto-approve
warning

Use -auto-approve with caution, especially in production environments.

-target=RESOURCE

Apply changes only to specific resources. Can be specified multiple times.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -target=aws_subnet.private -target=aws_route_table.private
-var 'NAME=VALUE'

Set a variable value. Can be specified multiple times.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -var="instance_count=3"
-refresh-only

Only update the state to match remote systems.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -refresh-only
-replace=RESOURCE

Force replacement of a specific resource.

atmos terraform apply vpc -s dev -replace=aws_instance.web

Best Practices​

Two-Stage Apply Process​

For production environments, we recommend a two-stage apply process:

# Stage 1: Generate and review the plan
atmos terraform plan vpc -s prod

# Review the plan output carefully...

# Stage 2: Apply the exact reviewed plan
atmos terraform apply vpc -s prod --from-plan

This ensures that:

  • Changes are reviewed before applying
  • No configuration drift occurs between plan and apply
  • The exact reviewed changes are applied

Automated Deployments​

For CI/CD pipelines, you can:

  1. Generate a plan in one job:

    atmos terraform plan vpc -s prod -out=plan.tfplan

  2. Apply the plan in another job (after approval):

    atmos terraform apply vpc -s prod --planfile plan.tfplan

Or use atmos terraform deploy for fully automated deployments:

atmos terraform deploy vpc -s prod

Configuration​

Configure default behavior for terraform apply in your atmos.yaml:

components:
  terraform:
    # Auto-approve all applies (use with caution)
    apply_auto_approve: false

    # Auto-generate backend configuration
    auto_generate_backend_file: true
info

See Terraform Planfiles for a comprehensive guide on working with planfiles in Atmos.

note

The atmos terraform apply command supports all native terraform apply options described in Terraform apply options, except that planfile arguments should use --from-plan or --planfile flags instead of being passed directly.