How to Import an AWS EKS Node Group into Terraform

Import AWS EKS Node Group with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Amazon EKS resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live AWS EKS Node Group 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_eks_node_group.default
  id = "prod-eks:default-workers"
}

Example aws_eks_node_group configuration

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

resource "aws_eks_node_group" "default" {
  cluster_name    = "prod-eks"
  node_group_name = "default-workers"
  node_role_arn   = "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/eksNodeRole"
  subnet_ids      = ["subnet-0bb1c79de3a1b2c3d"]
  instance_types  = ["t3.large"]

  scaling_config {
    desired_size = 3
    max_size     = 6
    min_size     = 2
  }
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS EKS Node Group

• The import ID is cluster_name:node_group_name joined by a colon, not a slash.
• scaling_config.desired_size drifts when the cluster autoscaler is active; the generated config ignores changes to it.
• The node IAM role must carry the AmazonEKSWorkerNodePolicy, AmazonEKS_CNI_Policy, and AmazonEC2ContainerRegistryReadOnly attachments, which are separate resources.
• If the node group uses a launch template, that template (aws_launch_template) is a separate resource you also manage.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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