How to Import an AWS S3 Bucket Lifecycle Configuration into Terraform

Import AWS S3 Bucket Lifecycle Configuration with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Amazon S3 resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live AWS S3 Bucket Lifecycle Configuration 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_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration.assets
  id = "my-app-assets"
}

Example aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration configuration

Here is a realistic AWS S3 Bucket Lifecycle Configuration block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "assets" {
  bucket = "my-app-assets"

  rule {
    id     = "expire-old-logs"
    status = "Enabled"

    filter {
      prefix = "logs/"
    }

    expiration {
      days = 90
    }
  }
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS S3 Bucket Lifecycle Configuration

• Lifecycle rules are a standalone resource in the modern provider; they import separately from aws_s3_bucket by the bucket name.
• Recent provider versions require an explicit filter (even an empty filter {}) on each rule; older console-created rules may need one added after import.
• Lifecycle rules expire or transition objects permanently; review days and storage_class before applying so you do not delete data unexpectedly.
• Do not mix this resource with a legacy lifecycle_rule block inside aws_s3_bucket; keep all rules in one place.

Doing it manually with terraform import

The native approach is to write the aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration block by hand, then run terraform import aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration.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