How to Import an Azure Cache for Redis into Terraform

Import Azure Cache for Redis with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure Cache for Redis resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure Cache for Redis 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_redis_cache.main
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Cache/Redis/prod-redis"
}

Example azurerm_redis_cache configuration

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

resource "azurerm_redis_cache" "main" {
  name                = "prod-redis"
  resource_group_name = "prod-rg"
  location            = "eastus"
  capacity            = 1
  family              = "C"
  sku_name            = "Standard"
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure Cache for Redis

• The ARM type segment is 'Redis' with a capital R (.../Microsoft.Cache/Redis/<name>).
• capacity and family work together: family C (Basic/Standard) sizes 0-6, family P (Premium) sizes 1-5; mismatches are invalid.
• The access keys and hostname are sensitive computed outputs.
• Premium-only features (clustering via shard_count, persistence, VNet via subnet_id) require sku_name = Premium and are immutable.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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