How to Import an Azure Monitor Diagnostic Setting into Terraform

Import Azure Monitor Diagnostic Setting with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure Monitor resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure Monitor Diagnostic Setting 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_monitor_diagnostic_setting.kv
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/prod-kv|kv-diagnostics"
}

Example azurerm_monitor_diagnostic_setting configuration

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

resource "azurerm_monitor_diagnostic_setting" "kv" {
  name                       = "kv-diagnostics"
  target_resource_id         = azurerm_key_vault.prod.id
  log_analytics_workspace_id = azurerm_log_analytics_workspace.prod.id

  enabled_log {
    category = "AuditEvent"
  }

  metric {
    category = "AllMetrics"
  }
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure Monitor Diagnostic Setting

• The import ID is not a plain ARM ID: it is the monitored resource's ID, a pipe character, then the diagnostic setting name (<target_resource_id>|<name>).
• A diagnostic setting attaches to almost any Azure resource; the monitored resource and the destination (workspace, storage account, or event hub) all import separately.
• Provider versions changed log handling: prefer enabled_log over the deprecated log block, and avoid retention_policy on newer providers.
• At least one destination (log_analytics_workspace_id, storage_account_id, or eventhub_authorization_rule_id) must be set or apply fails.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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