AWS RDS Setup Skill

Deploy production-ready managed databases with high availability.

Quick Reference

Parameters

Required

Optional

Execution Flow

1. Create DB subnet group
2. Configure parameter group
3. Create RDS instance
4. Wait for available status
5. Create read replicas (if specified)
6. Configure backups
7. Set up monitoring

Implementation

Create RDS Instance

# Create DB subnet group
aws rds create-db-subnet-group \
  --db-subnet-group-name prod-db-subnets \
  --db-subnet-group-description "Production DB subnets" \
  --subnet-ids subnet-111 subnet-222 subnet-333

# Create RDS instance
aws rds create-db-instance \
  --db-instance-identifier prod-mysql \
  --db-instance-class db.r6g.large \
  --engine mysql \
  --engine-version 8.0 \
  --master-username admin \
  --master-user-password "$DB_PASSWORD" \
  --allocated-storage 100 \
  --storage-type gp3 \
  --storage-encrypted \
  --kms-key-id alias/rds-key \
  --multi-az \
  --db-subnet-group-name prod-db-subnets \
  --vpc-security-group-ids sg-12345 \
  --backup-retention-period 7 \
  --preferred-backup-window "03:00-04:00" \
  --preferred-maintenance-window "sun:04:00-sun:05:00" \
  --enable-performance-insights \
  --performance-insights-retention-period 7 \
  --enable-cloudwatch-logs-exports '["error","slowquery"]' \
  --deletion-protection \
  --tags Key=Environment,Value=Production

Create Read Replica

aws rds create-db-instance-read-replica \
  --db-instance-identifier prod-mysql-replica \
  --source-db-instance-identifier prod-mysql \
  --db-instance-class db.r6g.large \
  --availability-zone us-east-1b

Parameter Groups

MySQL Optimization

{
  "max_connections": "LEAST({DBInstanceClassMemory/9531392},5000)",
  "innodb_buffer_pool_size": "{DBInstanceClassMemory*3/4}",
  "slow_query_log": "1",
  "long_query_time": "2"
}

PostgreSQL Optimization

{
  "shared_buffers": "{DBInstanceClassMemory/32768}",
  "effective_cache_size": "{DBInstanceClassMemory*3/4}",
  "log_min_duration_statement": "1000"
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Debug Checklist

• Security group allows port 3306/5432?
• DB in correct VPC/subnet?
• Instance status "available"?
• Using correct endpoint (writer vs reader)?
• SSL/TLS configured correctly?
• Parameter group applied?

Connection String Format

# MySQL
mysql -h endpoint.rds.amazonaws.com -u admin -p dbname

# PostgreSQL
psql "host=endpoint.rds.amazonaws.com dbname=mydb user=admin sslmode=require"

# With IAM Auth
aws rds generate-db-auth-token --hostname endpoint --port 3306 --username iam_user

High Availability

Test Template

def test_rds_connection():
    # Arrange
    endpoint = "prod-mysql.xxx.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com"

    # Act
    connection = pymysql.connect(
        host=endpoint,
        user='admin',
        password=get_secret('db-password'),
        database='mydb',
        ssl={'ssl': True}
    )

    # Assert
    cursor = connection.cursor()
    cursor.execute("SELECT 1")
    result = cursor.fetchone()
    assert result[0] == 1

    # Cleanup
    connection.close()

Assets

• assets/rds-config.yaml - RDS configuration templates

References

• RDS User Guide
• RDS Best Practices