How to Import an AWS SSM Document into Terraform

Import AWS SSM Document with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the AWS Systems Manager resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live AWS SSM Document 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_ssm_document.cwagent
  id = "Install-CloudWatchAgent"
}

Example aws_ssm_document configuration

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

resource "aws_ssm_document" "cwagent" {
  name            = "Install-CloudWatchAgent"
  document_type   = "Command"
  document_format = "YAML"

  content = <<DOC
schemaVersion: "2.2"
description: "Install the CloudWatch agent"
mainSteps: []
DOC
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS SSM Document

• Import only customer-owned documents by name; AWS-owned documents (those prefixed with AWS-) cannot be imported and should be referenced directly.
• document_type (Command, Automation, Session, and so on) is immutable; a mismatch forces replacement.
• content is normalized by AWS, so JSON or YAML formatting differences can produce a diff after import.
• Document associations (aws_ssm_association) that attach the document to targets are separate resources.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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