How to Import an Azure Load Balancer Backend Pool into Terraform

Import Azure Load Balancer Backend Pool with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure Load Balancer resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure Load Balancer Backend Pool 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_lb_backend_address_pool.web
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Network/loadBalancers/prod-lb/backendAddressPools/web-pool"
}

Example azurerm_lb_backend_address_pool configuration

Here is a realistic Azure Load Balancer Backend Pool block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "azurerm_lb_backend_address_pool" "web" {
  name            = "web-pool"
  loadbalancer_id = azurerm_lb.prod.id
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure Load Balancer Backend Pool

• This is a child resource of the load balancer: its ID nests under .../loadBalancers/<lb>/backendAddressPools/<name> and it imports separately from azurerm_lb.
• Do not also define a backend pool inline on the azurerm_lb; the pool must be modeled either inline or as this separate resource, not both.
• Pool membership (NICs or IP addresses) is managed by azurerm_network_interface_backend_address_pool_association or azurerm_lb_backend_address_pool_address, which import separately.
• loadbalancer_id is immutable; moving a pool to another load balancer forces recreation.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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