How to Import an Azure Private DNS Zone into Terraform

Import Azure Private DNS Zone 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 Private DNS Zone 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_private_dns_zone.main
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Network/privateDnsZones/privatelink.blob.core.windows.net"
}

Example azurerm_private_dns_zone configuration

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

resource "azurerm_private_dns_zone" "main" {
  name                = "privatelink.blob.core.windows.net"
  resource_group_name = "prod-rg"
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure Private DNS Zone

• The ARM type is privateDnsZones (distinct from public dnsZones); a private zone has no location argument.
• VNet links are separate azurerm_private_dns_zone_virtual_network_link resources and are required for resolution.
• Record sets are separate azurerm_private_dns_a_record (and similar) resources.
• For private endpoints, the zone name must match the well-known privatelink.* form for the target service.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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