Importing certificate FROM an ACM CA via aws_acm_certificate forces re-creation every apply

[LukasKnuthImagineOn]

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Terraform Version

Terraform v0.12.16

• provider.aws v2.40.0
• provider.template v2.1.2

Affected Resource(s)

• aws_acm_certificate

Terraform Configuration Files

This is not the full config, but (as far as I can reason) the relevant parts of it.

resource "aws_acm_certificate" "flake_access" { # todo This triggers a re-create every plan!
  lifecycle {
    create_before_destroy = true
  }

  private_key = file("${path.module}/certs/priv_no_enc.pem")
  certificate_body = file("${path.module}/certs/cert.pem")
  certificate_chain = file("${path.module}/certs/chain.pem")
}

resource "aws_elb" "web" {
  name = "gscb-elb"

  subnets         = [aws_subnet.default.id]
  security_groups = [aws_security_group.elb.id]

  listener {
    lb_port = 9988
    lb_protocol = "ssl"
    instance_port = 9988
    instance_protocol = "tcp"
    ssl_certificate_id = aws_acm_certificate.flake_access.arn
  }
}

Panic Output

No panic

Plan Output

Note: I have shortened the output for the load-balancer to the relvant listener. Also, I have replaced the Account-IDs in both ARNs.

An execution plan has been generated and is shown below.
Resource actions are indicated with the following symbols:
  ~ update in-place
+/- create replacement and then destroy

Terraform will perform the following actions:

  # aws_acm_certificate.flake_access must be replaced
+/- resource "aws_acm_certificate" "flake_access" {
      ~ arn                       = "arn:aws:acm:eu-central-1:redacted:certificate/2851432e-4b0d-4a95-a7e2-9df30b62c9bd" -> (known after apply)
      - certificate_authority_arn = "arn:aws:acm-pca:eu-central-1:ohter_account:certificate-authority/4fd3634f-ecf0-4912-b52f-b3901e28cf18" -> null # forces replacement
        certificate_body          = "879c08c6fbee675fa5a5738ee05adf346e48a333"
        certificate_chain         = "a6782ca0bcb4032cc20c3f4e88abfce4c7ad866f"
      ~ domain_name               = "some.domain.name" -> (known after apply)
      ~ domain_validation_options = [] -> (known after apply)
      ~ id                        = "arn:aws:acm:eu-central-1:redacted:certificate/2851432e-4b0d-4a95-a7e2-9df30b62c9bd" -> (known after apply)
        private_key               = (sensitive value)
      ~ subject_alternative_names = [] -> (known after apply)
      - tags                      = {} -> null
      ~ validation_emails         = [] -> (known after apply)
      ~ validation_method         = "NONE" -> (known after apply)

      - options {
          - certificate_transparency_logging_preference = "DISABLED" -> null
        }
    }

  # aws_elb.web will be updated in-place
  ~ resource "aws_elb" "web" {
        arn                         = "arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:eu-central-1:redacted:loadbalancer/gscb-elb"
        dns_name                    = "some.dns.name"
        id                          = "gscb-elb"

      - listener {
          - instance_port      = 9988 -> null
          - instance_protocol  = "tcp" -> null
          - lb_port            = 9988 -> null
          - lb_protocol        = "ssl" -> null
          - ssl_certificate_id = "arn:aws:acm:eu-central-1:redacted:certificate/2851432e-4b0d-4a95-a7e2-9df30b62c9bd" -> null
        }
      + listener {
          + instance_port      = 9988
          + instance_protocol  = "tcp"
          + lb_port            = 9988
          + lb_protocol        = "ssl"
          + ssl_certificate_id = (known after apply)
        }
    }

Plan: 1 to add, 1 to change, 1 to destroy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: You didn't specify an "-out" parameter to save this plan, so Terraform
can't guarantee that exactly these actions will be performed if
"terraform apply" is subsequently run.

Expected Behavior

Important The certificate I'm importing is created via AWS ACM CA from another account. Then, I export the certificate via the console, use OpenSSL to decrypt the private-key and import it via Terraform.

I expect the certificate to be importet successfully (which it is) and to remain unchanged on subsequent Terraform runs.

Actual Behavior

The certificate is scheduled to be re-importet on every run. Any dependencies (such as ELB) are re-created aswell.

The plan output shows that the contents of the certificate haven't changed, but the certificate_authority_arn-field forces the replacement. My guess is that since the cert was exported from another account and the ARN refers to it, this causes weird behaviour?

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a ACM CA in Account A
2. Issue a cert with the CA and export it
3. Use OpenSSL to decrypt the private-key: openssl rsa -in priv.pem -out priv_no_enc.pem
4. In Account B, import the certificate via Terraform.
5. Run Terraform again, the certificate will be re-imported.

Important Factoids

To re-iterate: The certificate I'm importing is created via AWS ACM CA from another account. Then, I export the certificate via the console, use OpenSSL to decrypt the private-key and import it via Terraform.

References

• aws_acm_certificate is recreating every time ...  #4935 - Was a config error, doesn't apply
• aws_acm_certificate is recreating every time ... #4948 - Duplicates the above (BOT user)
• terraform created AWS ACM Certificates every times #6128 - Has no feedback. Setup seems different.

[jordanbcooper]

I seem to be having this issue. After creating these certs + validations, the next run recreates the certs and validations, and attaches the new certs to the CF repos.

Terraform v1.0.8
on linux_amd64
+ provider registry.terraform.io/cloudflare/cloudflare v3.3.0
+ provider registry.terraform.io/hashicorp/aws v3.63.0

here are what I think are some relevant snippets from the module I wrote for our cf + s3 + acm setup.

resource "aws_acm_certificate" "cert" {
  provider                  = aws.us-east-1
  domain_name               = var.domain_name
  subject_alternative_names = ["${var.domain_name}"]
  validation_method         = "DNS"
  lifecycle {
    create_before_destroy = true
  }
}

resource "cloudflare_record" "certvalidation" {
  for_each = {
    for dvo in aws_acm_certificate.cert.domain_validation_options: dvo.domain_name => {
      name   = dvo.resource_record_name
      record = dvo.resource_record_value
      type   = dvo.resource_record_type
    }
  }
  allow_overwrite = true
  name            = each.value.name
  value           = each.value.record
  ttl             = 60
  type            = each.value.type
  zone_id         = var.zoneid
  
}

resource "aws_acm_certificate_validation" "certvalidation" {
  provider                = aws.us-east-1
  certificate_arn         = aws_acm_certificate.cert.arn
  validation_record_fqdns = [for record in cloudflare_record.certvalidation: record.hostname ]
}

[justinretzolk]

Hey all 👋 Thank you for taking the time to file this issue, and for the additional information.

@LukasKnuthImagineOn - since you'd initially filed the report (and because I don't want to only address the newer comment!), given that there's been a number of AWS provider and Terraform releases since you initially filed it, are you able to confirm if you're still running into the original behavior?

@jordanbcooper - since you reported this more recently; is this occurring after an import as well, as mentioned in the initial report, or are you seeing this looping behavior after only creating the resource(s)?

[jordanbcooper]

@justinretzolk These are new resources, never imported.

[justinretzolk]

Hey @jordanbcooper 👋 Thanks for confirming that. Since your situation isn't after an import, and it looks like you're not using imported (existing) certificates, I think the behavior you're experiencing might differ a bit from the original issue reported here. Would you mind opening a new issue with the relevant information in the issue template so we can separate these out a bit so that we don't cause any unnecessary confusion?

[jordanbcooper]

Will do, sorry about that @justinretzolk

[jordanbcooper]

@justinretzolk #21770

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