How to Import an Azure SQL Database into Terraform

Import Azure SQL Database with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure SQL resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure SQL Database 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_mssql_database.app
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.Sql/servers/prod-sqlsrv/databases/appdb"
}

Example azurerm_mssql_database configuration

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

resource "azurerm_mssql_database" "app" {
  name        = "appdb"
  server_id   = azurerm_mssql_server.main.id
  sku_name    = "S0"
  max_size_gb = 10
  collation   = "SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure SQL Database

• Use azurerm_mssql_database (not the deprecated azurerm_sql_database); it takes server_id, not separate resource_group_name/server_name arguments.
• The database ID nests under its logical server: .../servers/<server>/databases/<name>.
• The 'master' database is system-managed and should not be imported.
• collation and several settings are immutable; changing them forces recreation. The license_type only applies to vCore SKUs.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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