Terraform receives notification from the terraform taint command that a specific item has been degraded or damaged. This is represented by Terraform designating the item as "tainted" in the Terraform state, in which case Terraform will suggest replacing it in the next plan you write. If you want to compel the replacement of a specific object despite the fact that no configuration modifications are required, using the terraform apply -replace option is preferred.

Utilizing the "replace" option while creating a plan is preferable to using terraform taint because it allows you to SEE the entire impact of the alteration before taking any externally VISIBLE action. When you utilise terraform taint to achieve a similar impact, you run the danger of someone else on your team devising a new strategy to counter your tainted object before you've had a chance to consider the implications.

Syntax:

terraform taint [options] address

The address option specifies the location of the infected resource. The following options are available with this command:

• -allow-missing - Even if the resource is absent, the command will succeed (exit code 0) if it is supplied. Other SCENARIOS, such as a problem reading or writing the state, may CAUSE the command to return an error.
• -lock=false - Turns off Terraform's default behaviour of attempting to lock the state for the duration of the operation.
• -lock-timeout=DURATION - Instructs Terraform to reattempt procuring a lock for a period of time before issuing an error, unless locking is disabled with -lock=false. A number followed by a time UNIT letter, such as "3s" for three seconds, is the duration syntax.