Deleted Disk Entries Persist in State, Causing Invalid ID Errors

[iBrandyJackson]

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Terraform

v1.0.0

Terraform Provider

v2.8.2

VMware vSphere

7

Description

When using the vsphere_virtual_machine resource in Terraform to manage VMs with multiple disks, removing a disk from the configuration leads to errors if the deleted disk remains in the state file as <deleted>. This results in Terraform attempting to manage an additional, non-existent disk, causing the error:

Error: disk.2: cannot find disk device: invalid ID

Affected Resources or Data Sources

vsphere_virtual_machine

Terraform Configuration

Initial Configuration with Two Disks

resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "example_vm" {
  name             = "example-vm"
  resource_pool_id = "resgroup-100"
  datastore_id     = "datastore-12"
  num_cpus         = 2
  memory           = 4096
  guest_id         = "otherGuest"

  network_interface {
    network_id   = "network-100"
    adapter_type = "vmxnet3"
  }

  # Define two disks initially
  disk {
    label            = "disk0"
    size             = 100
    unit_number      = 0
    thin_provisioned = true
  }

  disk {
    label            = "disk1"
    size             = 1000
    unit_number      = 1
    thin_provisioned = true
  }
}

1. Run terraform apply to create the VM with two disks.
2. Modify the configuration to remove one disk, simulating what happens when a disk is deleted but retains a label in the state file:

# Modified Configuration: Removed One Disk
resource "vsphere_virtual_machine" "example_vm" {
  name             = "example-vm"
  resource_pool_id = "resgroup-100"
  datastore_id     = "datastore-12"
  num_cpus         = 2
  memory           = 4096
  guest_id         = "otherGuest"

  network_interface {
    network_id   = "network-100"
    adapter_type = "vmxnet3"
  }

  # Only one disk now, disk0
  disk {
    label            = "disk0"
    size             = 100
    unit_number      = 0
    thin_provisioned = true
  }
}

3. In the Terraform state file, the deleted disk may appear like this:

{
  "mode": "managed",
  "type": "vsphere_virtual_machine",
  "name": "example_vm",
  "provider": "provider.vsphere",
  "instances": [
    {
      "attributes": {
        "disk": [
          {
            "label": "disk0",
            "size": 100,
            "unit_number": 0,
            "thin_provisioned": true
          },
          {
            "label": "<deleted>",
            "size": 1000,
            "unit_number": 1,
            "thin_provisioned": true
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

4. Re-run terraform plan or terraform apply, and Terraform will throw an error similar to:

Error: disk.1: cannot find disk device: invalid ID

Debug Output

N/A

Panic Output

N/A

Expected Behavior

Terraform should ignore any deleted disk entries in the state file, refraining from managing these resources or generating invalid ID errors.

Actual Behavior

Terraform interprets disks in the state file as existing resources, causing it to search for invalid disk IDs that no longer exist in the configuration. This leads to an invalid ID error, blocking any further plan or apply operations.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure a vsphere_virtual_machine resource in Terraform with two disks.
2. Delete one disk from the configuration but leave its entry in the state file (marked as <deleted>).
3. Run terraform plan or terraform apply.
4. Observe Terraform attempting to manage a non-existent disk (e.g., disk.2), which triggers the error.

Environment Details

No response

Screenshots

No response

References

No response

[burnsjared0415]

I am not seeing this in vSphere 8, i did a new box and then delete a disk and not seeing this error, i am running

Terraform v1.9.8
on windows_amd64
+ provider registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/vsphere v1.24.3

I will build out a vsphere 7.x environment and see if i can reproduce

[iBrandyJackson]

hi @burnsjared0415 - my apologies for my delay in response here. I asked the field team member to confirm with the customer they are using v7 or v8. Will response once I hear back. I would assume they are using v7.