How to Import an AWS RDS Database Instance into Terraform

Import AWS RDS Database Instance with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Amazon RDS resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live AWS RDS Database Instance 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_db_instance.prod
  id = "prod-postgres"
}

Example aws_db_instance configuration

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

resource "aws_db_instance" "prod" {
  identifier           = "prod-postgres"
  engine               = "postgres"
  engine_version       = "16.3"
  instance_class       = "db.t3.medium"
  allocated_storage    = 100
  username             = "dbadmin"
  db_subnet_group_name = "prod-db-subnets"
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS RDS Database Instance

• password is never returned by AWS; supply it via a variable or use manage_master_user_password, otherwise Terraform shows a perpetual diff.
• Use the DB instance identifier, not the ARN or endpoint, as the import ID.
• skip_final_snapshot and final_snapshot_identifier are local-only settings; set them deliberately before the first destroy.
• Aurora clusters use aws_rds_cluster and aws_rds_cluster_instance, not aws_db_instance.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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