How to Import an Azure User-Assigned Managed Identity into Terraform

Import Azure User-Assigned Managed Identity with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Azure Managed Identity resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Azure User-Assigned Managed Identity 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_user_assigned_identity.app
  id = "/subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/app-identity"
}

Example azurerm_user_assigned_identity configuration

Here is a realistic Azure User-Assigned Managed Identity block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "azurerm_user_assigned_identity" "app" {
  name                = "app-identity"
  resource_group_name = "prod-rg"
  location            = "eastus"
}

Gotchas when importing a Azure User-Assigned Managed Identity

• principal_id (object ID) and client_id are computed outputs assigned by Azure AD; you cannot set them.
• Role assignments that grant this identity access are separate azurerm_role_assignment resources referencing principal_id.
• The identity is attached to a VM/app via that resource's identity block (identity_ids), not on the identity itself.
• Deleting the identity orphans any role assignments that referenced it; clean those up first.

Doing it manually with terraform import

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