How to Import an Google Compute Backend Service into Terraform

Import Google Compute Backend Service with Terraback (recommended)

Terraback reverse-engineers your live infrastructure: it reads the Compute Engine resource with read-only credentials, generates the HCL, and produces the exact import block. Two commands take you from a live Google Compute Backend Service to managed Terraform.

terraback scan all gcp --project my-gcp-project

terraback gcp 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 = google_compute_backend_service.web
  id = "projects/my-project/global/backendServices/web-backend"
}

Example google_compute_backend_service configuration

Here is a realistic Google Compute Backend Service block. Terraback generates a fuller version from your actual resource attributes; this is a minimal, valid starting point.

resource "google_compute_backend_service" "web" {
  name                  = "web-backend"
  protocol              = "HTTPS"
  load_balancing_scheme = "EXTERNAL_MANAGED"
  timeout_sec           = 30
  health_checks         = [google_compute_health_check.web.id]
}

Gotchas when importing a Google Compute Backend Service

• google_compute_backend_service is global; a regional internal load balancer backend is the separate google_compute_region_backend_service resource with a regions/<region> path.
• health_checks is required and references existing google_compute_health_check resources by self link.
• backend blocks reference instance groups or network endpoint groups; copy each group and balancing mode exactly.
• CDN settings, IAP, and Cloud Armor security policy attachments are nested or separate and may need re-specifying after import.

Doing it manually with terraform import

The native approach is to write the google_compute_backend_service block by hand, then run terraform import google_compute_backend_service.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 Google Cloud resources