How to Import an AWS SSM Maintenance Window Target into Terraform

Import AWS SSM Maintenance Window Target 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 Maintenance Window Target 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_maintenance_window_target.example
  id = "mw-0c50858d01EXAMPLE/23639a0b-ddbc-4bca-9e72-3c3cEXAMPLE"
}

Example aws_ssm_maintenance_window_target configuration

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

resource "aws_ssm_maintenance_window_target" "example" {
  window_id     = "mw-0c50858d01EXAMPLE"
  resource_type = "INSTANCE"

  targets {
    key    = "tag:Environment"
    values = ["production"]
  }
}

Gotchas when importing a AWS SSM Maintenance Window Target

• A target is a child of an aws_ssm_maintenance_window; the import ID joins the window ID and the target ID with a slash, and the parent window must already exist in state.
• resource_type is INSTANCE or RESOURCE_GROUP and is force-new; targets blocks select instances by tag or instance ID, so confirm the key/values match the live registration.
• The target ID in the import path is the registration UUID (not an instance ID); retrieve it with `aws ssm describe-maintenance-window-targets --window-id mw-...`.
• Targets and tasks are distinct child resources of the window; importing a target does not import the aws_ssm_maintenance_window_task that runs against it.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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