Terraform - Error: Insufficient features blocks

Problem

When running terraform plan or terraform apply with the Azure Provider (azurerm), the run fails with the following error message:

Error: Insufficient features blocks

Cause

This error typically occurs in one of two scenarios involving the azurerm provider configuration.

Scenario 1: Missing features block

The azurerm provider block is missing the required, empty features {} block.

Example of an incorrect configuration.

provider "azurerm" {
  subscription_id = "XXX"
  tenant_id       = "XXX"
}

Scenario 2: Missing default provider with aliases

The configuration uses provider aliases but lacks a default (un-aliased) provider block. If any resource in the configuration does not explicitly reference an alias, Terraform will look for a default provider. If one is not defined, this error will occur.

Example of a failing configuration with only aliased providers.

provider "azurerm" {
  alias           = "test1"
  features {}
  subscription_id = "XXX"
  tenant_id       = "XXX"
}

provider "azurerm" {
  alias           = "test2"
  features {}
  subscription_id = "XXX"
  tenant_id       = "XXX"
}

# This resource does not specify a provider alias, so it fails.
resource "azurerm_resource_group" "example" {
  name     = "example-cdn-frontdoor"
  location = "West Europe"
}

Solutions

Depending on the cause, you can apply one of the following solutions.

Solution 1: Add the features block

For configurations missing the features block, add an empty features {} block to the azurerm provider configuration.

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
  subscription_id = "XXX"
  tenant_id       = "XXX"
}

Solution 2: Add a default provider or reference an alias

If you are using provider aliases, you have two options.

1. Create a default provider: Add a default azurerm provider block without an alias argument. This provider will be used by any resource that does not specify a provider meta-argument.

   provider "azurerm" {
     features {}
     subscription_id = "XXX"
     tenant_id       = "XXX"
   }

2. Reference an alias in all resources: Ensure every resource in the configuration uses the provider meta-argument to reference one of the configured provider aliases.

   resource "azurerm_resource_group" "example" {
     provider = azurerm.test1
     name     = "example-cdn-frontdoor"
     location = "West Europe"
   }

Outcome

After applying the correct solution, Terraform runs should complete successfully without the Error: Insufficient features blocks message.

Additional Information

• For more details on provider settings, refer to the official Provider Configuration documentation.