How to fix Error creating Kubernetes Service: field is immutable in Terraform

Read the error message carefully to determine which field cannot be modified. Look for the specific field name in the error output:

spec.clusterIP: Invalid value: "": field is immutable

This tells you the exact field that Kubernetes won't allow you to change. Common immutable fields include:
- spec.clusterIP (Service)
- spec.selector (Deployment)
- metadata.name (all resources)

Delete the resource that has the immutable field you're trying to change. In Terraform, you can delete the resource from state:

terraform destroy -target=kubernetes_service.your_service

Or manually delete from the cluster:

kubectl delete service my-service

For Helm releases, delete the Service before upgrading if necessary:

kubectl delete service my-release-service
helm upgrade my-release my-chart

Modify your Terraform, Kubernetes YAML, or Helm values to include the changes you want:

resource "kubernetes_service" "my_service" {
  metadata {
    name = "my-service"
  }

  spec {
    selector = {
      app = "my-app"
    }

    port {
      port        = 80
      target_port = 8080
    }

    # If changing to ClusterIP, omit this field to let Kubernetes assign it
    # type = "LoadBalancer"
  }
}

If you need a specific clusterIP, explicitly specify it in the configuration before initial creation—never try to change it later.

Apply the new configuration to recreate the Service or resource:

terraform apply

Or with kubectl:

kubectl apply -f service.yaml

Or with Helm:

helm upgrade --install my-release my-chart

Kubernetes will create a new Service with a newly assigned clusterIP.

If you're still getting the error after deletion, the issue may be the kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration annotation. Remove it:

kubectl annotate service my-service kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration- --overwrite

The trailing dash tells Kubernetes to remove the annotation. This clears cached configuration metadata that may be causing conflicts.

If using Helm, ensure your Service has the correct Helm-specific annotations and labels to avoid metadata conflicts on future upgrades:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: my-service
  annotations:
    meta.helm.sh/release-name: my-release
    meta.helm.sh/release-namespace: default
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: Helm
spec:
  # ... rest of spec

This prevents Helm from trying to re-apply conflicting field values on upgrades.