How to fix Error: Error creating Container Registry: AlreadyExists in Terraform

Run the Azure CLI command to verify if the ACR with the desired name exists:

az acr show --resource-group <resource-group-name> --name <registry-name>

If the resource exists and you want to manage it with Terraform, proceed to import it into state. If it doesn't exist, the issue is likely a Terraform state problem.

If the ACR already exists in Azure, import it into your Terraform state using the import command:

terraform import azurerm_container_registry.acr /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/resourceGroups/<resource-group-name>/providers/Microsoft.ContainerRegistry/registries/<registry-name>

Replace the placeholders with your actual values. You can get the subscription ID with az account show --query id. After importing, Terraform will track the existing resource and won't try to recreate it.

To avoid name conflicts entirely, use a random suffix in your registry name:

resource "random_string" "acr_suffix" {
  length  = 8
  special = false
  upper   = false
}

resource "azurerm_container_registry" "acr" {
  name                = "myacr${random_string.acr_suffix.result}"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  sku                 = "Basic"
  admin_enabled       = false
}

This ensures a globally unique name by combining your prefix with random characters.

If deploying from CI/CD pipelines, ensure Terraform state is persisted in a remote backend. Add this configuration to your main.tf:

terraform {
  backend "azurerm" {
    resource_group_name  = "terraform-state-rg"
    storage_account_name = "tfstatestg"
    container_name       = "tfstate"
    key                  = "prod.terraform.tfstate"
  }
}

Initialize the backend with terraform init. This prevents state loss between pipeline runs and ensures all team members work with the same state.

If you want Terraform to fully manage the resource and the ACR contains no critical data, you can delete it and let Terraform recreate it:

# Remove from Azure
az acr delete --resource-group <resource-group-name> --name <registry-name>

# Clear Terraform state if needed
terraform state rm azurerm_container_registry.acr

# Re-run Terraform
terraform apply

WARNING: Only do this if the ACR is empty or the data is not needed. This operation is destructive and cannot be undone.

Before running Terraform in CI/CD, verify that:

1. Backend storage account and container exist
2. Pipeline has read/write access to the backend storage
3. terraform init is called before every terraform plan or terraform apply
4. State file isn't manually deleted or modified

Run terraform state list to verify Terraform can see existing resources in state. If empty, state is not properly persisted.