tags support for *_block_device within aws_instance resources

[mr-olson]

It would be useful if tags could be provided inline with EBS volumes in aws_instance resources - via the *_block_device stanzas.

I'm aware of volume_tags, which sprays all volume with the same tags. That is expected because the EC2 API just works that way, but not ideal for instances where different volumes have different tag needs.

Terraform Version

Terraform v0.11.3

• provider.archive v1.0.0
• provider.aws v1.11.0

Affected Resource(s)

• aws_instance

Terraform Configuration Files

resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  ami = "${var.my_ami}"
  tags = {
    InstanceName = "${var.server_name}"
  }
  root_block_device {
    volume_size = "${var.root_volume_size}"
    volume_type = "gp2"
    tags = {
      EBSVol = "RootVol"
    }
  }
  ebs_block_device {
    device_name = "/dev/sdb"  
    volume_size = "${var.data_volume_size}"
    volume_type = "gp2"
    delete_on_termination = true
    tags = {
      Data = "SecretFiles"
    }
  }
}

References

Opening new issue per ask in hashicorp/terraform#3531

[klose]

hi, @mr-olson

Error: aws_spot_fleet_request.XXX: launch_specification.0.ebs_block_device.0: invalid or unknown key: tags

$ terraform -version
Terraform v0.11.5

• provider.aws v1.13.0

spot_fleet_request's configuration cannot support EBS tags?

[leventyalcin]

@mr-olson not only different tag needs, also volume_tags are not stateful. If I add a key/value pair to volume_tags, Terraform does not upgrade those changes.

[heldersepu]

It will be nice to also have support for count under the *_block_device

[bflad]

@heldersepu handling dynamic sub-resource configurations should be handled in the upcoming Terraform 0.12 release using a new for and for_each syntax within the configuration language (HCL). Further tracking for that specific feature request can be found here: hashicorp/terraform#7034

A high level preview of this feature and others coming in that version can be found in: https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/terraform-0-1-2-preview -- I believe we will be releasing additional blog posts going into additional details about some of these as well.

[heldersepu]

@bflad Awesome! Looking forward to 0.12

Can you give us a code example of how something like that would look under the new release?

[bflad]

Please see the comments in the upstream issue for draft implementations: hashicorp/terraform#7034 (comment)

I believe this will specifically be its own blog post in the coming weeks.

(Aside: I would suggest commenting on the upstream Terraform core issue about this topic rather than this one as its unrelated to the original issue and messaging all the issue followers.)

[stephan2012]

Just stumbled over this issue, too. When assigning many ebs_block_device inline with an aws_instance it is difficult to identify them later on. Since aws_ebs_volume supports tags already, it should not be a general issue.

[zenbiking]

Could someone please give a status update on this when they have a spare moment? I also have some use cases where this would be useful (setting tags to implement DLM policies on certain devices attached to an EC2 instance)

[FearlessHyena]

This is a really needed feature. Not being able to add Name and other custom tags to the volumes makes tag-based resource grouping incomplete. Adding them manually later or using separate script defeats the purpose of managing everything via Terraform :(

[ArturZurawski]

For now I'm using null_resource to tag instance's root volumes. Maybe someone will find it handy:

resource "null_resource" "tag_volumes" {
  provisioner "local-exec" {
    command = <<EOF
aws ec2 create-tags \
  --resources ${aws_instance.this.root_block_device.0.volume_id} \
  --region ${data.aws_region.current.name} \
  --tags \
    Key=Name,Value=${aws_instance.this.tags["Name"]} \
    Key=DLMSnapshotsPolicyName,Value=daily2d
EOF
  }
}

[bitle]

For anyone considering the workaround above, you may try using the aws_ec2_tag resource.

resource "aws_ec2_tag" "example" {
  resource_id = element(tolist(aws_instance.example.ebs_block_device.*.volume_id), 0)
  key         = "Name2"
  value       = "Hello World!"
}

[francotel]

If you want tag the root volume:
resource "aws_ec2_tag" "example" { resource_id = element(tolist(aws_instance.example.root_block_device.*.volume_id), 0) key = "Name2" value = "Hello World!" }

[YakDriver]

We have merged a fix to the volume_tags issue in #15474. We have added tests to cover the issues observed. Please note that using volume_tags in aws_instance is not compatible with using tags in aws_ebs_volume. You need to use one or the other. Prior to this fix, even following this rule, you would encounter errors. Along with the fix, we've added tags to the root_block_device and ebs_block_device configuration blocks in aws_instance.

Now that the fix is in place, if you find any problems with volume_tags, let us know by opening a new issue.

[ghost]

This has been released in version 3.24.0 of the Terraform AWS provider. Please see the Terraform documentation on provider versioning or reach out if you need any assistance upgrading.

For further feature requests or bug reports with this functionality, please create a new GitHub issue following the template for triage. Thanks!

[ghost]

I'm going to lock this issue because it has been closed for 30 days ⏳. This helps our maintainers find and focus on the active issues.

If you feel this issue should be reopened, we encourage creating a new issue linking back to this one for added context. Thanks!