- title: "Support for periods (`.`) in Terraform state names might break existing states"
  announcement_milestone: "15.7"
  removal_milestone: "16.0"
  breaking_change: true
  reporter: nagyv-gitlab
  stage: configure
  issue_url: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/385564
  body: |
    Previously, Terraform state names containing periods were not supported. However, you could still use state names with periods via a workaround.

    GitLab 15.7 [adds full support](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/iac/troubleshooting.html#state-not-found-if-the-state-name-contains-a-period) for state names that contain periods. If you used a workaround to handle these state names, your jobs might fail, or it might look like you've run Terraform for the first time.

    To resolve the issue:

      1. Change any references to the state file by excluding the period and any characters that follow.
         - For example, if your state name is `state.name`, change all references to `state`.
      1. Run your Terraform commands.

    To use the full state name, including the period, [migrate to the full state file](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/iac/terraform_state.html#migrate-to-a-gitlab-managed-terraform-state).
  end_of_support_milestone: 16.0
  tiers: [Free, Silver, Gold, Core, Premium, Ultimate]
  documentation_url: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/infrastructure/iac/troubleshooting.html#troubleshooting-terraform-state'