hashicorp/terraform · error

Error migrating the workspace %[1]q from the previous %[2]q

Error message

Error migrating the workspace %[1]q from the previous %[2]q %[3]s
to the newly configured %[4]q %[5]s:
    %[6]s

Terraform copies workspaces in alphabetical order. Any workspaces
alphabetically earlier than this one have been copied. Any workspaces
later than this haven't been modified in the destination. No workspaces
in the source state have been modified.

Please resolve the error above and run the initialization command again.
This will attempt to copy (with permission) all workspaces again.

What it means

Returned when copying an individual workspace inside a multi-state-to-multi-state migration fails. Because workspaces are copied in alphabetical order, earlier workspaces are already copied, later ones are untouched, and the source is never modified. The user is told to fix the error and re-run init, which re-attempts the full copy with confirmation.

Source

Thrown at internal/command/meta_backend_migrate.go:217

	if wDiags.HasWarnings() {
		log.Printf("[WARN] backendMigrateState_S_S: warning(s) returned when getting workspaces from source backend: %s", wDiags.ErrWithWarnings())
	}

	// Sort the states so they're always copied alphabetically
	sort.Strings(sourceWorkspaces)

	// Go through each and migrate
	for _, name := range sourceWorkspaces {
		// Copy the same names
		opts.sourceWorkspace = name
		opts.destinationWorkspace = name

		// Force it, we confirmed above
		opts.force = true

		// Perform the migration
		if err := m.backendMigrateState_s_s(opts); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf(strings.TrimSpace(
				errMigrateMulti), name,
				opts.SourceType, srcWord,
				opts.DestinationType, dstWord, err)
		}
	}

	return nil
}

// Multi-state to single state.
func (m *Meta) backendMigrateState_S_s(opts *backendMigrateOpts) error {
	log.Printf("[INFO] backendMigrateState: destination backend type %q does not support named workspaces", opts.DestinationType)

	currentWorkspace, err := m.Workspace()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to d32a084675)

Solutions

1. Re-run `terraform init -migrate-state=true`; already-copied workspaces will reconcile and the failed one is retried.
2. Inspect the embedded `%[6]s` underlying error to determine whether it is auth, quota, or corruption.
3. Increase destination backend quotas/permissions, then retry.
4. If a specific workspace is corrupt, exclude or repair it in the source before re-running.

# Check destination write quota/permissions before migrating:
# S3 example:
aws s3 mb "s3://${DST_BUCKET}" 2>/dev/null || true
aws s3 ls "s3://${DST_BUCKET}/" >/dev/null && echo ok
terraform init -input=false -migrate-state=true

# Re-run init on partial per-workspace failure; reconciliation is idempotent:
for i in 1 2 3; do
  terraform init -input=false -migrate-state=true && break
  grep -q 'Error migrating the workspace' /tmp/init.log || { cat /tmp/init.log; exit 1; }
  echo "partial migration failure, retry $i"; sleep 10
done

When it happens

Trigger: Fires inside the `for _, name := range sourceWorkspaces` loop in `backendMigrateState_S_S` when `m.backendMigrateState_s_s(opts)` returns an error for a single workspace (state load, lock, copy, or persist failure).

Common situations: Transient destination write failure mid-migration (rate limiting, quota), a workspace whose state is too large for the destination backend, or destination credential expiration discovered only at write time.

Related errors

• Error asking for state migration action: %s
• Migration aborted by user.
• Error locking state: %s
• Error inspecting states in the %q %s: %s Prior to migra
• Error loading state: %[3]s Terraform failed to load the

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@d32a084675 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/76b679ada0257e80. Report an issue: GitHub.