Using random generator with null provider giving "no state file was found"

[ssid334]

What happened?

I am trying to use the example of random-generator to create secret with random content, but since I don't need TF for any other resources I am using null provider. Yet TF complains about local state file not present.

How can we reproduce it?

Provider Config:

apiVersion: tf.upbound.io/v1beta1
kind: ProviderConfig
metadata:
  name: default
spec:
  configuration: |
    terraform {
      backend "local" {}
    }
    provider "null" {
    }

When applying the example of random generator I'm getting the result:

Name:         example-random-generator
Namespace:
Labels:       <none>
Annotations:  crossplane.io/external-name: random
              meta.upbound.io/example-id: tf/v1beta1/workspace
API Version:  tf.upbound.io/v1beta1
Kind:         Workspace
Metadata:
  Creation Timestamp:  2024-10-09T10:44:12Z
  Generation:          1
  Resource Version:    51253448
  UID:                 95636143-3c98-4b20-8c28-ab47de1f2c31
Spec:
  Deletion Policy:  Delete
  For Provider:
    Entrypoint:
    Module:      resource "random_password" "password" {
  length = 16
  special = true
}
output "random_password" {
  value = random_password.password
  sensitive = true
}

    Source:  Inline
  Management Policies:
    *
  Provider Config Ref:
    Name:  default
  Write Connection Secret To Ref:
    Name:       terraform-workspace-example-random-generator
    Namespace:  tftest
Status:
  At Provider:
  Conditions:
    Last Transition Time:  2024-10-09T10:44:17Z
    Message:               observe failed: cannot list Terraform resources: Terraform encountered an error. Summary: . To see the full error run: echo "H4sIAAAAAAAA/0yOMU7FQAxE+73Cb4YD8AXiHhRAl8psvFlLWTt4vYq4PUoUpF+48cy8mdv09treDT0oGEVWxk4dxYbOTyl9nu9GSgs31kC21kjnDuefIc6gh+gdH0MRVfq/L4mCMItzDvNf7JWd8cXuVMwbKnV8Myt8KMwxOiMq4/mCrrSkMGwmGqdwcRF2NG+cpUi+JqyWKcT0fpte2nHpDwAA//8BAAD//yMXozveAAAA" | base64 -d | gunzip
    Reason:                ReconcileError
    Status:                False
    Type:                  Synced
Events:
  Type     Reason                         Age                 From                             Message
  ----     ------                         ----                ----                             -------
  Warning  CannotObserveExternalResource  37s (x25 over 21m)  managed/workspace.tf.upbound.io  cannot list Terraform resources: Terraform encountered an error. Summary: . To see the full error run: echo "H4sIAAAAAAAA/0yOMU7FQAxE+73Cb4YD8AXiHhRAl8psvFlLWTt4vYq4PUoUpF+48cy8mdv09treDT0oGEVWxk4dxYbOTyl9nu9GSgs31kC21kjnDuefIc6gh+gdH0MRVfq/L4mCMItzDvNf7JWd8cXuVMwbKnV8Myt8KMwxOiMq4/mCrrSkMGwmGqdwcRF2NG+cpUi+JqyWKcT0fpte2nHpDwAA//8BAAD//yMXozveAAAA" | base64 -d | gunzip
k8s-control-plane1 ~/r> echo "H4sIAAAAAAAA/0yOMU7FQAxE+73Cb4YD8AXiHhRAl8psvFlLWTt4vYq4PUoUpF+48cy8mdv09treDT0oGEVWxk4dxYbOTyl9nu9GSgs31kC21kjnDuefIc6gh+gdH0MRVfq/L4mCMItzDvNf7JWd8cXuVMwbKnV8Myt8KMwxOiMq4/mCrrSkMGwmGqdwcRF2NG+cpUi+JqyWKcT0fpte2nHpDwAA//8BAAD//yMXozveAAAA" | base64 -d | gunzip
No state file was found!

State management commands require a state file. Run this command
in a directory where Terraform has been run or use the -state flag
to point the command to a specific state location.

What environment did it happen in?

• Crossplane Version: 1.15.0
• Provider Version: v0.18.0
• Kubernetes Version: v1.29.5
• Kubernetes Distribution: kubeadmin

[bobh66]

Have you tried using the kubernetes backend as suggested here: https://github.com/upbound/provider-terraform?tab=readme-ov-file#known-limitations

[ssid334]

Just checked, k8s provider seems to work. But the null provider seems to be better candidate for this as it should be volatile.

[bobh66]

https://github.com/upbound/provider-terraform/blob/main/examples/providerconfig.yaml#L28