How to Import an AWS Backup Vault into Terraform

Import AWS Backup Vault with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the AWS Backup resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live AWS Backup Vault to managed Terraform.

terraback scan all aws --region us-east-1

terraback aws import --method bulk

The Terraform import block

Terraback emits a Terraform 1.5+ import block like the one below. Because the block lives in your configuration, the import is reviewable in a pull request and repeatable across environments.

import {
  to = aws_backup_vault.prod
  id = "prod-backup-vault"
}

Example aws_backup_vault configuration

Here is a realistic AWS Backup Vault block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "aws_backup_vault" "prod" {
  name        = "prod-backup-vault"
  kms_key_arn = "arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:123456789012:key/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012"
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS Backup Vault

• Import by the vault name, not by ARN.
• The vault access policy (aws_backup_vault_policy) and notifications (aws_backup_vault_notifications) are separate resources and are not imported with the vault.
• A vault that still contains recovery points cannot be destroyed; Terraform delete will fail until the vault is empty.
• Backup plans (aws_backup_plan) and selections (aws_backup_selection) that target the vault are managed independently.

Doing it manually with terraform import

The native approach is to write the aws_backup_vault block by hand, then run terraform import aws_backup_vault.example <import-id> for every resource, one at a time. That works for a handful of resources, but it does not scale: you author all the HCL yourself and repeat the command for each item. Terraback generates the HCL and the import blocks for your whole account in one pass.

Import other AWS resources