Step 1: Create a table

In this step, you create a Music table in Amazon DynamoDB. The table has the following details:

• Partition key — Artist

• Sort key — SongTitle

For more information about table operations, see Working with tables and data in DynamoDB.

Note

Before you begin, make sure that you followed the steps in Prerequisites - getting started tutorial.

AWS Management Console

To create a new Music table using the DynamoDB console:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the DynamoDB console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/dynamodb/.

2. In the left navigation pane, choose Tables.

3. Choose Create table.

4. Enter the Table details as follows:

   1. For Table name, enter Music.

   2. For Partition key, enter Artist.

   3. For Sort key, enter SongTitle.

5. For Table settings, keep the default selection of Default settings.

6. Choose Create table to create the table.

   

7. Once the table is in ACTIVE status, we recommend that you enable Point-in-time recovery for DynamoDB on the table by performing the following steps:

   1. Choose the table name to open the table.

   2. Choose Backups.

   3. Choose Edit in the Point-in-time recovery (PITR) section.

   4. On the Edit point-in-time recovery settings page, choose Turn on point-in-time recovery.

   5. Choose Save changes.

AWS CLI

The following AWS CLI example creates a new Music table using create-table.

Linux

aws dynamodb create-table \
    --table-name Music \
    --attribute-definitions \
        AttributeName=Artist,AttributeType=S \
        AttributeName=SongTitle,AttributeType=S \
    --key-schema \
        AttributeName=Artist,KeyType=HASH \
        AttributeName=SongTitle,KeyType=RANGE \
    --provisioned-throughput \
        ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5 \
    --table-class STANDARD

Windows CMD

aws dynamodb create-table ^
    --table-name Music ^
    --attribute-definitions ^
        AttributeName=Artist,AttributeType=S ^
        AttributeName=SongTitle,AttributeType=S ^
    --key-schema ^
        AttributeName=Artist,KeyType=HASH ^
        AttributeName=SongTitle,KeyType=RANGE ^
    --provisioned-throughput ^
        ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5 ^
    --table-class STANDARD

Using create-table returns the following sample result.

{
    "TableDescription": {
        "AttributeDefinitions": [
            {
                "AttributeName": "Artist",
                "AttributeType": "S"
            },
            {
                "AttributeName": "SongTitle",
                "AttributeType": "S"
            }
        ],
        "TableName": "Music",
        "KeySchema": [
            {
                "AttributeName": "Artist",
                "KeyType": "HASH"
            },
            {
                "AttributeName": "SongTitle",
                "KeyType": "RANGE"
            }
        ],
        "TableStatus": "CREATING",
        "CreationDateTime": "2023-03-29T12:11:43.379000-04:00",
        "ProvisionedThroughput": {
            "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
            "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": 5
        },
        "TableSizeBytes": 0,
        "ItemCount": 0,
        "TableArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:111122223333:table/Music",
        "TableId": "60abf404-1839-4917-a89b-a8b0ab2a1b87",
        "TableClassSummary": {
            "TableClass": "STANDARD"
        }
    }
}
}

Note that the value of the TableStatus field is set to CREATING.

To verify that DynamoDB has finished creating the Music table, use the describe-table command.

Linux

 aws dynamodb describe-table --table-name Music | grep TableStatus

Windows CMD

 aws dynamodb describe-table --table-name Music | findstr TableStatus

This command returns the following result. When DynamoDB finishes creating the table, the value of the TableStatus field is set to ACTIVE.

"TableStatus": "ACTIVE",

Once the table is in ACTIVE status, it's considered best practice to enable Point-in-time recovery for DynamoDB on the table by running the following command:

Linux

aws dynamodb update-continuous-backups \ 
    --table-name Music \ 
    --point-in-time-recovery-specification \ 
        PointInTimeRecoveryEnabled=true
                

Windows CMD

aws dynamodb update-continuous-backups --table-name Music --point-in-time-recovery-specification PointInTimeRecoveryEnabled=true

This command returns the following result.

{
    "ContinuousBackupsDescription": {
        "ContinuousBackupsStatus": "ENABLED",
        "PointInTimeRecoveryDescription": {
            "PointInTimeRecoveryStatus": "ENABLED",
            "EarliestRestorableDateTime": "2023-03-29T12:18:19-04:00",
            "LatestRestorableDateTime": "2023-03-29T12:18:19-04:00"
        }
    }
}

Note

There are cost implications to enabling continuous backups with point-in-time recovery. For more information about pricing, see Amazon DynamoDB pricing.

After creating the new table, proceed to Step 2: Write data to a table using the console or AWS CLI.