230 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
230 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: "language"
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page_title: "Data Sources - Configuration Language"
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sidebar_current: "docs-config-data-sources"
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description: |-
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Data sources allow data to be fetched or computed for use elsewhere in Terraform configuration.
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---
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# Data Sources
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_Data sources_ allow data to be fetched or computed for use elsewhere
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in Terraform configuration. Use of data sources allows a Terraform
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configuration to make use of information defined outside of Terraform,
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or defined by another separate Terraform configuration.
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Each [provider](/docs/language/providers/index.html) may offer data sources
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alongside its set of [resource](/docs/language/resources/index.html)
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types.
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## Using Data Sources
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A data source is accessed via a special kind of resource known as a
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_data resource_, declared using a `data` block:
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```hcl
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data "aws_ami" "example" {
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most_recent = true
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owners = ["self"]
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tags = {
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Name = "app-server"
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Tested = "true"
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}
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}
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```
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A `data` block requests that Terraform read from a given data source ("aws_ami")
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and export the result under the given local name ("example"). The name is used
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to refer to this resource from elsewhere in the same Terraform module, but has
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no significance outside of the scope of a module.
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The data source and name together serve as an identifier for a given
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resource and so must be unique within a module.
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Within the block body (between `{` and `}`) are query constraints defined by
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the data source. Most arguments in this section depend on the
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data source, and indeed in this example `most_recent`, `owners` and `tags` are
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all arguments defined specifically for [the `aws_ami` data source](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs/data-sources/ami).
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When distinguishing from data resources, the primary kind of resource (as declared
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by a `resource` block) is known as a _managed resource_. Both kinds of resources
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take arguments and export attributes for use in configuration, but while
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managed resources cause Terraform to create, update, and delete infrastructure
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objects, data resources cause Terraform only to _read_ objects. For brevity,
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managed resources are often referred to just as "resources" when the meaning
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is clear from context.
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## Data Source Arguments
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Each data resource is associated with a single data source, which determines
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the kind of object (or objects) it reads and what query constraint arguments
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are available.
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Each data source in turn belongs to a [provider](/docs/language/providers/index.html),
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which is a plugin for Terraform that offers a collection of resource types and
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data sources that most often belong to a single cloud or on-premises
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infrastructure platform.
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Most of the items within the body of a `data` block are defined by and
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specific to the selected data source, and these arguments can make full
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use of [expressions](/docs/language/expressions/index.html) and other dynamic
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Terraform language features.
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However, there are some "meta-arguments" that are defined by Terraform itself
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and apply across all data sources. These arguments often have additional
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restrictions on what language features can be used with them, and are described
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in more detail in the following sections.
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## Data Resource Behavior
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If the query constraint arguments for a data resource refer only to constant
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values or values that are already known, the data resource will be read and its
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state updated during Terraform's "refresh" phase, which runs prior to creating a plan.
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This ensures that the retrieved data is available for use during planning and
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so Terraform's plan will show the actual values obtained.
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Query constraint arguments may refer to values that cannot be determined until
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after configuration is applied, such as the id of a managed resource that has
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not been created yet. In this case, reading from the data source is deferred
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until the apply phase, and any references to the results of the data resource
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elsewhere in configuration will themselves be unknown until after the
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configuration has been applied.
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## Local-only Data Sources
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While many data sources correspond to an infrastructure object type that
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is accessed via a remote network API, some specialized data sources operate
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only within Terraform itself, calculating some results and exposing them
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for use elsewhere.
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For example, local-only data sources exist for
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[rendering templates](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/template/latest/docs/data-sources/file),
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[reading local files](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/local/latest/docs/data-sources/file), and
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[rendering AWS IAM policies](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs/data-sources/iam_policy_document).
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The behavior of local-only data sources is the same as all other data
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sources, but their result data exists only temporarily during a Terraform
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operation, and is re-calculated each time a new plan is created.
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## Data Resource Dependencies
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Data resources have the same dependency resolution behavior
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[as defined for managed resources](/docs/language/resources/behavior.html#resource-dependencies).
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Setting the `depends_on` meta-argument within `data` blocks defers reading of
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the data source until after all changes to the dependencies have been applied.
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In order to ensure that data sources are accessing the most up to date
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information possible in a wide variety of use cases, arguments directly
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referencing managed resources are treated the same as if the resource was
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listed in `depends_on`. This behavior can be avoided when desired by indirectly
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referencing the managed resource values through a `local` value.
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~> **NOTE:** **In Terraform 0.12 and earlier**, due to the data resource behavior of deferring the read until the apply phase when depending on values that are not yet known, using `depends_on` with `data` resources will force the read to always be deferred to the apply phase, and therefore a configuration that uses `depends_on` with a `data` resource can never converge. Due to this behavior, we do not recommend using `depends_on` with data resources.
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## Multiple Resource Instances
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Data resources support [`count`](/docs/language/meta-arguments/count.html)
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and [`for_each`](/docs/language/meta-arguments/for_each.html)
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meta-arguments as defined for managed resources, with the same syntax and behavior.
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As with managed resources, when `count` or `for_each` is present it is important to
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distinguish the resource itself from the multiple resource _instances_ it
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creates. Each instance will separately read from its data source with its
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own variant of the constraint arguments, producing an indexed result.
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## Selecting a Non-default Provider Configuration
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Data resources support [the `provider` meta-argument](/docs/language/meta-arguments/resource-provider.html)
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as defined for managed resources, with the same syntax and behavior.
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## Lifecycle Customizations
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Data resources do not currently have any customization settings available
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for their lifecycle, but the `lifecycle` nested block is reserved in case
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any are added in future versions.
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## Example
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A data source configuration looks like the following:
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```hcl
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# Find the latest available AMI that is tagged with Component = web
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data "aws_ami" "web" {
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filter {
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name = "state"
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values = ["available"]
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}
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filter {
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name = "tag:Component"
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values = ["web"]
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}
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most_recent = true
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}
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```
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## Description
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The `data` block creates a data instance of the given _type_ (first
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block label) and _name_ (second block label). The combination of the type
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and name must be unique.
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Within the block (the `{ }`) is configuration for the data instance. The
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configuration is dependent on the type, and is documented for each
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data source in the [providers section](/docs/providers/index.html).
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Each data instance will export one or more attributes, which can be
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used in other resources as reference expressions of the form
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`data.<TYPE>.<NAME>.<ATTRIBUTE>`. For example:
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```hcl
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resource "aws_instance" "web" {
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ami = data.aws_ami.web.id
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instance_type = "t1.micro"
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}
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```
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## Meta-Arguments
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As data sources are essentially a read only subset of resources, they also
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support the same [meta-arguments](/docs/language/resources/syntax.html#meta-arguments) of resources
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with the exception of the
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[`lifecycle` configuration block](/docs/language/meta-arguments/lifecycle.html).
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### Non-Default Provider Configurations
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Similarly to [resources](/docs/language/resources/index.html), when
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a module has multiple configurations for the same provider you can specify which
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configuration to use with the `provider` meta-argument:
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```hcl
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data "aws_ami" "web" {
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provider = aws.west
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# ...
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}
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```
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See
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[The Resource `provider` Meta-Argument](/docs/language/meta-arguments/resource-provider.html)
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for more information.
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## Data Source Lifecycle
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If the arguments of a data instance contain no references to computed values,
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such as attributes of resources that have not yet been created, then the
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data instance will be read and its state updated during Terraform's "refresh"
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phase, which by default runs prior to creating a plan. This ensures that the
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retrieved data is available for use during planning and the diff will show
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the real values obtained.
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Data instance arguments may refer to computed values, in which case the
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attributes of the instance itself cannot be resolved until all of its
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arguments are defined. In this case, refreshing the data instance will be
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deferred until the "apply" phase, and all interpolations of the data instance
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attributes will show as "computed" in the plan since the values are not yet
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known.
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