How to Import an AWS EFS File System Policy into Terraform

Import AWS EFS File System Policy with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Amazon EFS resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live AWS EFS File System Policy 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_efs_file_system_policy.example
  id = "fs-6fa144c6"
}

Example aws_efs_file_system_policy configuration

Here is a realistic AWS EFS File System Policy block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "aws_efs_file_system_policy" "example" {
  file_system_id = "fs-6fa144c6"

  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [{
      Sid       = "AllowMount"
      Effect    = "Allow"
      Principal = { AWS = "*" }
      Action    = ["elasticfilesystem:ClientMount", "elasticfilesystem:ClientWrite"]
    }]
  })
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS EFS File System Policy

• Like the backup policy, this is a one-to-one child of an aws_efs_file_system and is imported by the file system ID (fs-...), so the file system must already exist.
• The policy attribute is a JSON document; after import Terraform may show a diff from key ordering or whitespace until you wrap it in jsonencode and match the canonical form.
• bypass_policy_lockout_safety_check defaults to false; an overly strict policy can lock you out of the file system, so review the imported document carefully before applying changes.
• Importing the policy does not import the file system, its mount targets, or access points; those are separate resources with their own IDs.

Doing it manually with terraform import

The native approach is to write the aws_efs_file_system_policy block by hand, then run terraform import aws_efs_file_system_policy.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