hashicorp/terraform · error

error describing table store

Error message

error describing table store %s: %#v

What it means

Thrown by remoteClient() when both ots_endpoint and ots_table are configured: the Tablestore (OTS) DescribeTable call failed. The backend pre-flight checks that the configured locking table exists and is reachable before using it for state locking.

Solutions

1. Confirm ots_table matches an existing Tablestore table in the Alibaba Cloud console.
2. Verify ots_endpoint is the correct regional endpoint for that table.
3. Grant the credentials the Tablestore access (ots:DescribeTable, ots:GetRow, ots:PutRow, ots:DeleteRow) on the table.
4. Check network egress from the runner to the OTS endpoint (security groups, NAT, proxies).

// Before terraform runs, verify the OTS table exists and is describable.
desc, err := otsClient.DescribeTable(&tablestore.DescribeTableRequest{TableName: table})
if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("pre-flight DescribeTable failed: %w", err) }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling OTS DescribeTable for the configured table name and getting any error: table not found, authentication failure, endpoint unreachable, or permission denied on the tablestore:DescribeTable action.

Common situations: Mis-typed ots_table name, table not yet created, ots_endpoint pointing at the wrong region, RAM user/role lacking Tablestore permissions, or network/firewall blocking the OTS endpoint.

Related errors

• failed to retrieve lock info
• failed to store state MD5
• error deleting state
• Error unlocking Alibaba Cloud OSS state file: Lock ID
• failed to lock OSS state

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@d32a084675 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0b69857801f002f0. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/backend/remote-state/oss/backend_state.go:49

		return nil, errors.New("missing state name")
	}

	client := &RemoteClient{
		ossClient:            b.ossClient,
		bucketName:           b.bucketName,
		stateFile:            b.stateFile(name),
		lockFile:             b.lockFile(name),
		serverSideEncryption: b.serverSideEncryption,
		acl:                  b.acl,
		otsTable:             b.otsTable,
		otsClient:            b.otsClient,
	}
	if b.otsEndpoint != "" && b.otsTable != "" {
		_, err := b.otsClient.DescribeTable(&tablestore.DescribeTableRequest{
			TableName: b.otsTable,
		})
		if err != nil {
			return client, fmt.Errorf("error describing table store %s: %#v", b.otsTable, err)
		}
	}

	return client, nil
}

func (b *Backend) Workspaces() ([]string, tfdiags.Diagnostics) {
	var diags tfdiags.Diagnostics

	bucket, err := b.ossClient.Bucket(b.bucketName)
	if err != nil {
		return []string{""}, diags.Append(fmt.Errorf("error getting bucket: %#v", err))
	}

	var options []oss.Option
	options = append(options, oss.Prefix(b.statePrefix+"/"), oss.MaxKeys(1000))
	resp, err := bucket.ListObjects(options...)
	if err != nil {

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