AWS Documentation » AWS Database Migration Service » User Guide » Working with AWS DMS Tasks

Working with AWS DMS Tasks

An AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) task is where all the work happens. You specify what tables and schemas to use for your migration and any special processing, such as logging requirements, control table data, and error handling.

When creating a migration task, you need to know several things:

• Before you can create a task, you must create a source endpoint, a target endpoint, and a replication instance.

• You can specify many task settings to tailor your migration task. You can set these by using the AWS Management Console, AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI), or AWS DMS API. These settings include specifying how migration errors are handled, error logging, and control table information.

• After you create a task, you can run it immediately. The target tables with the necessary metadata definitions are automatically created and loaded, and you can specify ongoing replication.

• By default, AWS DMS starts your task as soon as you create it. However, in some situations, you might want to postpone the start of the task. For example, when using the AWS CLI, you might have a process that creates a task and a different process that starts the task based on some triggering event. As needed, you can postpone your task's start.

• You can monitor, stop, or restart tasks using the AWS DMS console, AWS CLI, or AWS DMS API.

The following are actions that you can do when working with an AWS DMS task.

Task	Relevant Documentation
Creating a Task Assessment Report You can create a task assessment report that shows any unsupported data types that could cause problems during migration. You can run this report on your task before running the task to find out potential issues.	Creating a Task Assessment Report
Creating a Task When you create a task, you specify the source, target, and replication instance, along with any migration settings.	Creating a Task
Creating an Ongoing Replication Task You can set up a task to provide continuous replication between the source and target.	Creating Tasks for Ongoing Replication Using AWS DMS
Applying Task Settings Each task has settings that you can configure according to the needs of your database migration. You create these settings in a JSON file or, with some settings, you can specify the settings using the AWS DMS console.	Specifying Task Settings for AWS Database Migration Service Tasks
Data Validation Data validation is a task setting you can use to have AWS DMS compare the data on your target data store with the data from your source data store.	Validating AWS DMS Tasks.
Modifying a Task When a task is stopped, you can modify the settings for the task.	Modifying a Task
Reloading Tables During a Task You can reload a table during a task if an error occurs during the task.	Reloading Tables During a Task
Using Table Mapping Table mapping uses several types of rules to specify the data source, source schema, data, and any transformations that should occur during the task.	Selection Rules Selection Rules and Actions Transformation Rules Transformation Rules and Actions
Applying Filters You can use source filters to limit the number and type of records transferred from your source to your target. For example, you can specify that only employees with a location of headquarters are moved to the target database. You apply filters on a column of data.	Using Source Filters
Monitoring a Task There are several ways to get information on the performance of a task and the tables used by the task.	Monitoring AWS DMS Tasks
Managing Task Logs You can view and delete task logs using the AWS DMS API or AWS CLI.	Managing AWS DMS Task Logs