Converting kubectl Manifests to Terraform: From Manual Applies to Infrastructure as Code

Calendar February 22, 2026
Kubernetes
Intermediate
Terraform-Authoring, Manifest-Conversion, Module-Design
Terraform, Kubectl, Infrastructure-as-Code, Migration, Kubernetes-Provider
Terraform, Kubectl, Helm

Converting kubectl Manifests to Terraform#

You have a working Kubernetes setup built with kubectl apply -f. It works, but there is no state tracking, no dependency graph, and no way to reliably reproduce it. Terraform fixes all three problems.

Step 1: Export Existing Resources#

Start by extracting what you have. For each resource type, export the YAML:

kubectl get deployment,service,configmap,ingress -n my-app -o yaml > exported.yaml

For a single resource with cleaner output: