terraform-import

terraform import [options] address id

terraform import reads one object that already exists in a provider and records it in state at address. id is the provider's identifier for that object: an EC2 instance id for aws_instance, a zone id for a Route 53 zone, and something else for every other resource type. The provider documentation defines the format. A wrong id produces an error and does not change state.The address can point at the root module or at a nested module, including a count or for_each instance. Quote addresses that contain brackets so the shell does not expand them.The command loads provider settings from configuration in the -config directory. If that configuration is missing, Terraform prompts, unless credentials are supplied through the provider's environment variables. Provider blocks read during import cannot depend on anything except variables. A provider that refers to a data source is rejected.import blocks in configuration are the alternative that runs during terraform apply and can be reviewed in a plan. terraform plan -generate-config-out is the experimental flag that writes HCL for import blocks that do not already have a resource block. The output path must not already exist.

-config =path

Directory of Terraform configuration that configures the provider. Defaults to the working directory.

Ask for provider settings that are not in the configuration or the environment. Set false for automation.

Do not take a state lock. Unsafe when another command might use the same workspace.

How long to retry a state lock. The default is 0s.

Disable colored output.

Limit concurrent operations while Terraform walks the graph. The default is 10.

Deprecated. Override the provider configuration used for this import. Terraform otherwise uses the provider selected by the target resource.

Set a variable as a Terraform literal expression. Repeat the flag to set more than one. Lists and maps can be passed this way.

Load variables from a file. terraform.tfvars and **\*.auto.tfvars in the working directory are loaded automatically. Repeat the flag to add more files. Only useful with -config**.

Accepted only for HCP Terraform and the remote backend. Skip the remote service version check.

Legacy options accepted only by the local backend.

provider blocks

Configure the provider that owns the object. Credentials can also come from that provider's environment variables.

Variable files loaded automatically when -config points at a directory that contains them. -var and -var-file override those files.

terraform import writes state. It does not write a resource block. The address should already exist in configuration. An imported object with no configuration shows up as a destroy on the next plan.Each remote object should be bound to one address. Importing the same object to a second address breaks the assumption Terraform makes about state, and later plans can fight over it.-lock=false lets a concurrent plan, apply, or import rewrite the same state. -provider is deprecated.The id string is not portable across resource types. Copy it from the provider's import documentation for that type.

terraform import was added in Terraform 0.7.0 (August 2, 2016) as state import for existing infrastructure. Terraform 1.5.0 (June 12, 2023) added configuration import blocks and terraform plan -generate-config-out. That release left the terraform import command itself unchanged.Terraform was created by Mitchell Hashimoto at HashiCorp and first released in 2014.

terraform(1), terraform-plan(1), terraform-apply(1), terraform-query(1)

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