Connecting to a DB instance running the MariaDB database engine - Amazon Relational Database Service

Connecting to a DB instance running the MariaDB database engine

After Amazon RDS provisions your DB instance, you can use any standard MariaDB client application or utility to connect to the instance. In the connection string, you specify the Domain Name System (DNS) address from the DB instance endpoint as the host parameter. You also specify the port number from the DB instance endpoint as the port parameter.

You can connect to an Amazon RDS for MariaDB DB instance by using tools like the MySQL command-line client. For more information on using the MySQL command-line client, see mysql command-line client in the MariaDB documentation. One GUI-based application that you can use to connect is Heidi. For more information, see the Download HeidiSQL page. For information about installing MySQL (including the MySQL command-line client), see Installing and upgrading MySQL.

Most Linux distributions include the MariaDB client instead of the Oracle MySQL client. To install the MySQL command-line client on Amazon Linux 2023, run the following command:

sudo dnf install mariadb105

To install the MySQL command-line client on Amazon Linux 2, run the following command:

sudo yum install mariadb

To install the MySQL command-line client on most DEB-based Linux distributions, run the following command.

apt-get install mariadb-client

To check the version of your MySQL command-line client, run the following command.

mysql --version

To read the MySQL documentation for your current client version, run the following command.

man mysql

To connect to a DB instance from outside of a virtual private cloud (VPC) based on Amazon VPC, the DB instance must be publicly accessible. Also, access must be granted using the inbound rules of the DB instance's security group, and other requirements must be met. For more information, see Can't connect to Amazon RDS DB instance.

You can use SSL encryption on connections to a MariaDB DB instance. For information, see Using SSL/TLS with a MariaDB DB instance.

Finding the connection information for a MariaDB DB instance

The connection information for a DB instance includes its endpoint, port, and a valid database user, such as the master user. For example, suppose that an endpoint value is mydb.123456789012.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com. In this case, the port value is 3306, and the database user is admin. Given this information, you specify the following values in a connection string:

  • For host or host name or DNS name, specify mydb.123456789012.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com.

  • For port, specify 3306.

  • For user, specify admin.

To connect to a DB instance, use any client for the MariaDB DB engine. For example, you might use the MySQL command-line client or MySQL Workbench.

To find the connection information for a DB instance, you can use the AWS Management Console, the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) describe-db-instances command, or the Amazon RDS API DescribeDBInstances operation to list its details.

To find the connection information for a DB instance in the AWS Management Console
  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon RDS console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Databases to display a list of your DB instances.

  3. Choose the name of the MariaDB DB instance to display its details.

  4. On the Connectivity & security tab, copy the endpoint. Also, note the port number. You need both the endpoint and the port number to connect to the DB instance.

    
                                The endpoint and port of a DB instance
  5. If you need to find the master user name, choose the Configuration tab and view the Master username value.

To find the connection information for a MariaDB DB instance by using the AWS CLI, call the describe-db-instances command. In the call, query for the DB instance ID, endpoint, port, and master user name.

For Linux, macOS, or Unix:

aws rds describe-db-instances \ --filters "Name=engine,Values=mariadb" \ --query "*[].[DBInstanceIdentifier,Endpoint.Address,Endpoint.Port,MasterUsername]"

For Windows:

aws rds describe-db-instances ^ --filters "Name=engine,Values=mariadb" ^ --query "*[].[DBInstanceIdentifier,Endpoint.Address,Endpoint.Port,MasterUsername]"

Your output should be similar to the following.

[ [ "mydb1", "mydb1.123456789012.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com", 3306, "admin" ], [ "mydb2", "mydb2.123456789012.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com", 3306, "admin" ] ]

To find the connection information for a DB instance by using the Amazon RDS API, call the DescribeDBInstances operation. In the output, find the values for the endpoint address, endpoint port, and master user name.

Connecting from the MySQL command-line client (unencrypted)

Important

Only use an unencrypted MySQL connection when the client and server are in the same VPC and the network is trusted. For information about using encrypted connections, see Connecting from the MySQL command-line client with SSL/TLS (encrypted).

To connect to a DB instance using the MySQL command-line client, enter the following command at a command prompt on a client computer. Doing this connects you to a database on a MariaDB DB instance. Substitute the DNS name (endpoint) for your DB instance for <endpoint> and the master user name that you used for <mymasteruser>. Provide the master password that you used when prompted for a password.

mysql -h <endpoint> -P 3306 -u <mymasteruser> -p

After you enter the password for the user, you see output similar to the following.

Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g. Your MariaDB connection id is 31 Server version: 10.6.10-MariaDB-log Source distribution Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others. Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement. MariaDB [(none)]>

Troubleshooting connections to your MariaDB DB instance

Two common causes of connection failures to a new DB instance are the following:

  • The DB instance was created using a security group that doesn't authorize connections from the device or Amazon EC2 instance where the MariaDB application or utility is running. The DB instance must have a VPC security group that authorizes the connections. For more information, see Amazon VPC VPCs and Amazon RDS.

    You can add or edit an inbound rule in the security group. For Source, choose My IP. This allows access to the DB instance from the IP address detected in your browser.

  • The DB instance was created using the default port of 3306, and your company has firewall rules blocking connections to that port from devices in your company network. To fix this failure, recreate the instance with a different port.

For more information on connection issues, see Can't connect to Amazon RDS DB instance.