How to Import an Azure DNS A Record into Terraform

Import Azure DNS A Record with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure DNS resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure DNS A Record 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_dns_a_record.www
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Network/dnsZones/example.com/A/www"
}

Example azurerm_dns_a_record configuration

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

resource "azurerm_dns_a_record" "www" {
  name                = "www"
  zone_name           = "example.com"
  resource_group_name = "prod-rg"
  ttl                 = 300
  records             = ["10.0.0.4"]
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure DNS A Record

• The record type segment in the ID is the uppercase '/A/' (CNAME uses /CNAME/, MX uses /MX/, and so on).
• Use target_resource_id for an alias record instead of records; the two are mutually exclusive.
• The apex/root record uses name = "@".
• Record sets are per-name: all A records for one hostname are a single resource with a records list, not one resource per IP.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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