Terraform Import in Azure — Fixing Out-of-Band Changes

❌ Error:

Error: A resource with the ID already exists - to be managed via Terraform this resource needs to be imported into the State

The Problem

Someone created a Storage Account manually in the Azure Portal.
When I tried to deploy Terraform, it failed because the resource already existed.

Solution — Using terraform import

Step 1: Define the Resource in Code

resource "azurerm_storage_account" "example" {
  name                     = "kasdevstorage01"
  resource_group_name      = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  location                 = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  account_tier             = "Standard"
  account_replication_type = "LRS"
}

Step 2: Import the Existing Resource

terraform import azurerm_storage_account.example \
  /subscriptions/<subId>/resourceGroups/<rgName>/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/kasdevstorage01

Step 3: Run Plan

terraform plan
Terraform now recognizes the resource as managed.

Notes:

• Always define the resource exactly as it exists in Azure.
• Use terraform state show after import to confirm values.
• Use imports to bring drifted or manually created resources back under Terraform.

– Kasi @ KasdevTech or LinkedIn