RDS

AWS databases

Setting up

Go to RDS dashboard page:

Services > Database > RDS

Hit the big orange Create database button

1. Select your database provider. I’ll go with PostgreSQL. Make sure you check Only enable options eligible for RDS Free Tiers if you are concerned by it Click Next

2. Select:

   • the database version
   • the instance supporting the database
   • allocated storage space
   • database identifier (URL prefix). If empty, no database will be instantiated

   • master username and password. do not lose the info

     Click Next

3. Configure your database:
   • Virtual Private Cloud: better use an existing one to regroup resources
   • Public accessibility: to be able to access the database from out of the VPC
   • Security group: up to you, you can create a new one or re-use an existing one
   • Database name and port
   • Other maintenance and stuff configuration
   • Uncheck “enable deletion protection” if you want to delete the database later
4. RDS instantiation is pretty long, please go take your coffee

Post instantiation

Surrounding resources

Creating a database will automatically create, if you decide to create it:

• a virtual private cloud (VPC) with a subnet group
• a security group

For a better readibility / maintenance / etc, feel free to give a proper name to theses resources to know what is what.

Database access

In the example of a PostgreSQL database, you can access the database via an url postgres://{username}:{password}@{hostname}:{port}/{database_name}

• username refers to the master username you defined earlier
• password refers to the master password you defined earlier
• hostname is the endpoint: {database identifier}.{shared unique id}.{aws region}.rds.amazoneaws.com
• port could have been defined. Default is 5432 for PostgreSQL
• database_name according to your definition

Security

In case you have a strict security group, ensure that the appropriate EC2 instances have access to your database. In the example of PostgreSQL:

Sources: