What does state locking accomplish?

What does state locking accomplish?

• A. Copies the state file from memory to disk
• B. Encrypts any credentials stored within the state file
• C. Blocks Terraform commands from modifying the state file
• D. Prevents accidental deletion of the state file

Answer: (C)

State locking ensures that only one Terraform process can modify the state at a time. When a run starts, Terraform asks the backend to acquire a lock; if another process holds the lock, the new run waits or fails, preventing simultaneous writes to the state file. This stops race conditions and potential state corruption that could happen if multiple people or automation temporarily update the state in parallel. The lock is released automatically when the run finishes (or can be force-unlocked in rare cases). It’s not about encrypting credentials, copying the state to disk, or preventing deletion—it's specifically about ensuring safe, single-writer access to the state in shared or remote backends.

State locking ensures that only one Terraform process can modify the state at a time. When a run starts, Terraform asks the backend to acquire a lock; if another process holds the lock, the new run waits or fails, preventing simultaneous writes to the state file. This stops race conditions and potential state corruption that could happen if multiple people or automation temporarily update the state in parallel. The lock is released automatically when the run finishes (or can be force-unlocked in rare cases). It’s not about encrypting credentials, copying the state to disk, or preventing deletion—it's specifically about ensuring safe, single-writer access to the state in shared or remote backends.