Which commands would you use to view the attributes of a resource from the state file?

• A. terraform state list
• B. terraform state show
• C. terraform state list then terraform state show
• D. terraform show

Answer: (D)

To view the attributes of a specific resource stored in the state, focus on the state show command with the resource address. This command prints all the attributes Terraform has recorded for that particular resource, giving you a precise view of its current state. If you don’t already know the resource address, you can first discover it with terraform state list, then run terraform state show on the chosen address to see its attributes.

Using terraform show without an address displays the entire state file, which includes every resource and all their attributes. That’s useful for a broad inspect, but it’s not as targeted as showing just one resource’s attributes. So the direct, targeted way to view a resource’s attributes is to use terraform state show with the resource address, optionally preceded by a state list to find the address.