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# Assignment
During the migration process, several resources were created under the AWS account. Some of these test resources are no longer needed at the moment, so we need to clean them up temporarily. One such instance is currently unused and should be deleted.
1) Delete the ec2 instance named devops-ec2 present in us-east-1 region using terraform. Make sure to keep the provisioning code, as we might need to provision this instance again later.
2) Before submitting your task, make sure instance is in terminated state.
The Terraform working directory is /home/bob/terraform.
Note: Right-click under the EXPLORER section in VS Code and select Open in Integrated Terminal to launch the terminal.
# Solution
# Delete EC2 Instance (Keep Code) — `devops-ec2`
The requirement has two halves that seem to conflict: **terminate** the instance, but
**keep** its provisioning code in `main.tf` for later. The resolution is a **targeted
destroy** — it operates on the real resource and Terraform state only, and never
touches your `.tf` files. So `main.tf` stays exactly as-is.
## `main.tf` — leave unchanged
Do **not** delete or comment out the block. It stays exactly as given:
```hcl
# Provision EC2 instance
resource "aws_instance" "ec2" {
ami = "ami-0c101f26f147fa7fd"
instance_type = "t2.micro"
vpc_security_group_ids = [
"sg-6593a59fe82db4400"
]
tags = {
Name = "devops-ec2"
}
}
```
## How to run
```bash
cd /home/bob/terraform
# Terminate ONLY this instance; leaves the code in main.tf intact.
terraform destroy -target=aws_instance.ec2 -auto-approve
```
## How it works
### Targeted destroy vs. the wrong approaches
Three ways you might try to delete the instance, and why only one fits:
| Approach | Result |
|----------|--------|
| Delete the resource block, then `apply` | Instance is destroyed, but the **code is gone** — violates "keep the provisioning code." |
| `terraform destroy` (no target) | Destroys **everything** in the config, not just this instance. |
| `terraform destroy -target=aws_instance.ec2` | Destroys **only** this instance; code stays in `main.tf`. ✅ |
The `-target` flag scopes the operation to a single resource address
(`aws_instance.ec2`). Terraform terminates that instance, removes its entry from
state, and leaves every line of your configuration file exactly where it was —
because destroy acts on infrastructure and state, never on source code.
### Why the code surviving matters
Keeping the block means the instance is trivially re-creatable later: a plain
`terraform apply` will see the resource declared in config but absent from state and
recreate it. That's the "we might need to provision this again" requirement — the
declaration is preserved as the reusable blueprint.
### Reaching `terminated` state (requirement #2)
`terraform destroy -target` calls `TerminateInstances` and **waits** until the
instance reaches `terminated` before returning. When the command completes, the
instance is terminated — no manual polling needed. (A terminated instance lingers as
a read-only entry in the console for a while before disappearing; that's normal.)
### Expected state afterward
After the targeted destroy, the config declares a resource that no longer exists in
state. So `terraform plan` will show Terraform wants to **create** `devops-ec2` again
(`+ 1 to add`). That's expected and correct — **do not apply it**. The task wants the
instance terminated with the code retained, which is exactly this state.
## Verify
```bash
aws ec2 describe-instances \
--filters Name=tag:Name,Values=devops-ec2 \
--query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].{Id:InstanceId,State:State.Name}' \
--output table
```
Expected — the instance shows `State: terminated`. Also confirm the code is still
present:
```bash
grep -A12 'resource "aws_instance" "ec2"' /home/bob/terraform/main.tf
```