apim-terraform

name

apim-terraform

description

Guide for creating Terraform files for Azure API Management (APIM) and related Azure services. Use when users want to create, modify, or understand Terraform configurations for APIM instances, APIs, backends, subscriptions, policies, products, loggers, diagnostics, and supporting infrastructure using the azurerm provider. This skill provides HCL syntax, resource definitions, and patterns from the Terraform Registry and this repository.

APIM Terraform Skill

Guide for creating Terraform files for Azure API Management and related Azure services.

Quick Start

Minimum Viable APIM Deployment

terraform {
  required_version = ">=1.0"
  required_providers {
    azurerm = {
      source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
      version = "~>4.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
}

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" {
  name     = "example-resources"
  location = "westeurope"
}

resource "azurerm_api_management" "apim" {
  name                = "example-apim"
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  publisher_name      = "My Company"
  publisher_email     = "[e-mail]"
  sku_name            = "Developer_1"
}

Resource Types

Core APIM Resources

Resource	Description
azurerm_api_management	APIM service instance
azurerm_api_management_api	API definition
azurerm_api_management_api_operation	API operation
azurerm_api_management_backend	Backend service
azurerm_api_management_subscription	Subscription for API access
azurerm_api_management_product	Product grouping APIs
azurerm_api_management_product_api	Link product to API

Policy Resources

Resource	Description
azurerm_api_management_policy	Global policy
azurerm_api_management_api_policy	API-level policy
azurerm_api_management_api_operation_policy	Operation-level policy
azurerm_api_management_product_policy	Product-level policy
azurerm_api_management_policy_fragment	Reusable policy fragment

Monitoring Resources

Resource	Description
azurerm_api_management_logger	Logger (App Insights/Event Hub)
azurerm_api_management_diagnostic	Service-level diagnostics
azurerm_api_management_api_diagnostic	API-level diagnostics

Configuration Resources

Resource	Description
azurerm_api_management_named_value	Named value (property)
azurerm_api_management_certificate	Certificate
azurerm_api_management_authorization_server	OAuth server
azurerm_api_management_openid_connect_provider	OpenID provider

For complete resource reference, see references/apim-resources.md.

Essential Patterns

APIM Service with Managed Identity

resource "azurerm_api_management" "apim" {
  name                          = "example-apim"
  location                      = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name           = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  publisher_name                = "My Company"
  publisher_email               = "[e-mail]"
  sku_name                      = "BasicV2_1"
  virtual_network_type          = "None"
  public_network_access_enabled = true

  identity {
    type = "SystemAssigned"
  }
}

API with OpenAPI Import

resource "azurerm_api_management_api" "api" {
  name                  = "example-api"
  resource_group_name   = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  api_management_name   = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  revision              = "1"
  display_name          = "Example API"
  path                  = "api"
  protocols             = ["https"]
  subscription_required = false
  api_type              = "http"

  import {
    content_format = "openapi-link"
    content_value  = "https://example.com/openapi.json"
  }

  subscription_key_parameter_names {
    header = "api-key"
    query  = "api-key"
  }
}

Backend with Circuit Breaker (azapi)

For advanced backend features like circuit breakers, use the azapi provider:

resource "azapi_resource" "backend" {
  type      = "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/backends@2024-06-01-preview"
  parent_id = azurerm_api_management.apim.id
  name      = "example-backend"

  body = {
    properties = {
      url         = "https://backend.example.com/api"
      protocol    = "http"
      description = "Backend service"

      circuitBreaker = {
        rules = [
          {
            failureCondition = {
              count            = 1
              errorReasons     = ["Server errors"]
              interval         = "PT5M"
              statusCodeRanges = [{ min = 429, max = 429 }]
            }
            name             = "BreakerRule"
            tripDuration     = "PT1M"
            acceptRetryAfter = true
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Backend Pool for Load Balancing (azapi)

resource "azapi_resource" "backend_pool" {
  type                      = "Microsoft.ApiManagement/service/backends@2024-06-01-preview"
  name                      = "backend-pool"
  parent_id                 = azurerm_api_management.apim.id
  schema_validation_enabled = false

  body = {
    properties = {
      description = "Load balancer for multiple backends"
      type        = "Pool"

      pool = {
        services = [
          { id = azapi_resource.backend1.id, priority = 1, weight = 100 },
          { id = azapi_resource.backend2.id, priority = 2, weight = 50 }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

API Policy with XML

resource "azurerm_api_management_api_policy" "policy" {
  api_name            = azurerm_api_management_api.api.name
  api_management_name = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name

  xml_content = <<XML
<policies>
  <inbound>
    <base />
    <set-backend-service backend-id="backend-pool" />
    <authentication-managed-identity resource="https://cognitiveservices.azure.com" />
  </inbound>
  <backend>
    <base />
  </backend>
  <outbound>
    <base />
  </outbound>
  <on-error>
    <base />
  </on-error>
</policies>
XML
}

Policy from File with Variable Substitution

resource "azurerm_api_management_api_policy" "policy" {
  api_name            = azurerm_api_management_api.api.name
  api_management_name = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name

  xml_content = replace(file("policy.xml"), "{backend-id}", azapi_resource.backend_pool.name)
}

Subscription

resource "azurerm_api_management_subscription" "subscription" {
  display_name        = "example-subscription"
  api_management_name = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  api_id              = replace(azurerm_api_management_api.api.id, "/;rev=.*/", "")
  allow_tracing       = true
  state               = "active"
}

Product

resource "azurerm_api_management_product" "product" {
  product_id            = "example-product"
  api_management_name   = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  resource_group_name   = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  display_name          = "Example Product"
  subscription_required = true
  approval_required     = true
  published             = true
}

resource "azurerm_api_management_product_api" "product_api" {
  api_name            = azurerm_api_management_api.api.name
  product_id          = azurerm_api_management_product.product.product_id
  api_management_name = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
}

Logging with Application Insights

resource "azurerm_application_insights" "appinsights" {
  name                = "example-appinsights"
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  application_type    = "web"
}

resource "azurerm_api_management_logger" "logger" {
  name                = "appinsights-logger"
  api_management_name = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  resource_id         = azurerm_application_insights.appinsights.id

  application_insights {
    instrumentation_key = azurerm_application_insights.appinsights.instrumentation_key
  }
}

resource "azurerm_api_management_diagnostic" "diagnostic" {
  identifier               = "applicationinsights"
  resource_group_name      = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  api_management_name      = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  api_management_logger_id = azurerm_api_management_logger.logger.id

  sampling_percentage       = 5.0
  always_log_errors         = true
  log_client_ip             = true
  verbosity                 = "verbose"
  http_correlation_protocol = "W3C"

  frontend_request {
    body_bytes     = 32
    headers_to_log = ["content-type", "accept", "origin"]
  }

  frontend_response {
    body_bytes     = 32
    headers_to_log = ["content-type", "content-length", "origin"]
  }

  backend_request {
    body_bytes     = 32
    headers_to_log = ["content-type", "accept", "origin"]
  }

  backend_response {
    body_bytes     = 32
    headers_to_log = ["content-type", "content-length", "origin"]
  }
}

Named Values

resource "azurerm_api_management_named_value" "value" {
  name                = "example-property"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  api_management_name = azurerm_api_management.apim.name
  display_name        = "ExampleProperty"
  value               = "Example Value"
  secret              = false
}

Role Assignment for Cognitive Services

resource "azurerm_role_assignment" "cognitive_services_user" {
  scope                = azurerm_cognitive_account.ai_services.id
  role_definition_name = "Cognitive Services User"
  principal_id         = azurerm_api_management.apim.identity[0].principal_id
}

SKU Reference

SKU	Format	Notes
Consumption	Consumption_0	Auto-scaling, capacity always 0
Developer	Developer_1	Development/testing
Basic	Basic_1 or Basic_2	Entry-level production
BasicV2	BasicV2_1	New v2 tier
Standard	Standard_1 to Standard_4	Production workloads
StandardV2	StandardV2_1	New v2 tier
Premium	Premium_1 to Premium_12	Enterprise features
PremiumV2	PremiumV2_1	New v2 tier

Best Practices

1. Use managed identity for secure access to backend services
2. Use azapi provider for features not yet in azurerm (circuit breakers, backend pools)
3. Store policies in separate files and use file() function
4. Use variables for configurable values like locations, SKUs, and names
5. Use for_each for multiple similar resources (backends, deployments)
6. Strip revision suffix from API ID for subscriptions: replace(api.id, "/;rev=.*/", "")
7. Add random suffix to globally unique names using random_string

Provider Requirements

terraform {
  required_version = ">=1.0"
  required_providers {
    azurerm = {
      source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
      version = "~>4.0"
    }
    azapi = {
      source  = "Azure/azapi"
      version = "~>2.0"
    }
    random = {
      source  = "hashicorp/random"
      version = "~>3.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
}

References

• references/apim-resources.md - Complete APIM resource definitions
• references/ai-gateway-patterns.md - AI Gateway patterns from this repository