How to Import an Azure Private Endpoint into Terraform

Import Azure Private Endpoint with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure Networking resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure Private Endpoint 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_endpoint.storage
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Network/privateEndpoints/storage-pe"
}

Example azurerm_private_endpoint configuration

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

resource "azurerm_private_endpoint" "storage" {
  name                = "storage-pe"
  resource_group_name = "prod-rg"
  location            = "eastus"
  subnet_id           = azurerm_subnet.app.id

  private_service_connection {
    name                           = "storage-psc"
    private_connection_resource_id = azurerm_storage_account.assets.id
    is_manual_connection           = false
    subresource_names              = ["blob"]
  }
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure Private Endpoint

• The private_service_connection block is required and immutable; subresource_names must match the target service's group (for example blob, file, sqlServer).
• DNS integration (private_dns_zone_group) is a nested block; the private DNS zone itself is a separate resource and must be linked to the VNet.
• The endpoint consumes a private IP in the subnet; that subnet must allow private endpoint network policies.
• The auto-generated NIC is computed; reference it via network_interface rather than managing it directly.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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