How to Import an Azure API Management API into Terraform

Import Azure API Management API with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure API Management resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure API Management API to managed Terraform.

terraback scan all azure --subscription-id YOUR_ID

terraback azure 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 = azurerm_api_management_api.orders
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/prod-apim/apis/orders-api;rev=1"
}

Example azurerm_api_management_api configuration

Here is a realistic Azure API Management API block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "azurerm_api_management_api" "orders" {
  name                = "orders-api"
  resource_group_name = "prod-rg"
  api_management_name = "prod-apim"
  revision            = "1"
  display_name        = "Orders API"
  path                = "orders"
  protocols           = ["https"]
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure API Management API

• The import ID is unusual: it ends with a ;rev=<n> revision suffix (for example ;rev=1), which is required even for the first revision.
• This is the parent API only; operations, policies, diagnostics, and version sets are separate azurerm_api_management_api_* resources.
• The API Management service itself imports separately as azurerm_api_management.
• Changing path, revision, or api_management_name forces a new resource.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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