Two government agency operators each run Terraform against the same ACI tenant from different laptops. Each laptop has its own state file. The second plan wants to create objects the first laptop already created. What is the right fix?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Terraform's memory of the tenant is the state file. You give both operators the same memory, in one remote state, or the second laptop thinks the tenant is a green field and tries to build it again. Wiping the tenant on every apply is how you buy an outage.
Full Explanation
Terraform decides what to create or destroy by comparing the configuration with its state. Separate state files mean each laptop believes it owns a different history, so the second plan tries to create objects that already exist. A single remote state gives both government operators the same record of the deployed tenant, and the next plan can see those objects as already managed. Deleting the tenant before every apply would make the plans agree by destroying production. That is not a state strategy. SPAN copies packets. It does not store Terraform state or ACI configuration. POAP is a switch bootstrap for devices with no startup configuration. APICs do not reconcile two Terraform state files with POAP. Caveat: the remote state needs locking, or two applies at the same moment can still race. Sharing a file without a lock only solves half of the collision. Operational check: point both laptops at the same remote state, run a plan, and confirm it no longer wants to create the objects the first apply already built.