---
page_title: 'Backend Type: consul'
description: Terraform can store state in Consul.
---

# consul

Stores the state in the [Consul](https://www.consul.io/) KV store at a given path.

This backend supports [state locking](/terraform/language/state/locking).

## Example Configuration

```hcl
terraform {
  backend "consul" {
    address = "consul.example.com"
    scheme  = "https"
    path    = "full/path"
  }
}
```

Note that for the access credentials we recommend using a
[partial configuration](/terraform/language/settings/backends/configuration#partial-configuration).

## Data Source Configuration

```hcl
data "terraform_remote_state" "foo" {
  backend = "consul"
  config = {
    path = "full/path"
  }
}
```

## Configuration Variables

!> **Warning:**  We recommend using environment variables to supply credentials and other sensitive data. If you use `-backend-config` or hardcode these values directly in your configuration, Terraform will include these values in both the `.terraform` subdirectory and in plan files. Refer to [Credentials and Sensitive Data](/terraform/language/settings/backends/configuration#credentials-and-sensitive-data) for details.

The following configuration options / environment variables are supported:

- `path` - (Required) Path in the Consul KV store
- `access_token` / `CONSUL_HTTP_TOKEN` - (Required) Access token
- `address` / `CONSUL_HTTP_ADDR` - (Optional) DNS name and port of your Consul endpoint specified in the
  format `dnsname:port`. Defaults to the local agent HTTP listener.
- `scheme` - (Optional) Specifies what protocol to use when talking to the given
  `address`, either `http` or `https`. SSL support can also be triggered
  by setting then environment variable `CONSUL_HTTP_SSL` to `true`.
- `datacenter` - (Optional) The datacenter to use. Defaults to that of the agent.
- `http_auth` / `CONSUL_HTTP_AUTH` - (Optional) HTTP Basic Authentication credentials to be used when
  communicating with Consul, in the format of either `user` or `user:pass`.
- `gzip` - (Optional) `true` to compress the state data using gzip, or `false` (the default) to leave it uncompressed.
- `lock` - (Optional) `false` to disable locking. This defaults to true, but will require session permissions with Consul and at least kv write permissions on `$path/.lock` to perform locking.
- `ca_file` / `CONSUL_CACERT` - (Optional) A path to a PEM-encoded certificate authority used to verify the remote agent's certificate.
- `cert_file` / `CONSUL_CLIENT_CERT` - (Optional) A path to a PEM-encoded certificate provided to the remote agent; requires use of `key_file`.
- `key_file` / `CONSUL_CLIENT_KEY` - (Optional) A path to a PEM-encoded private key, required if `cert_file` is specified.