Amazon RDS

Owned by Julio Capote (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Apr 20, 2018
2 min read

Only MySQL and Aurora Databases are supported on RDS at this time

Required Settings

Your database must be configured with the UTF-8 encoding as the default collation and character_set for your MySQL/Aurora server. 

Enabling UTF8 on Amazon RDS

Before creating your database, create a Parameter Group for the database family you are using, we are using Aurora in Mysql 5.7 compatilbility mode. Make sure the 'Type' is set to 'DB Cluster Parameter Group'. We named ours 'utf8-aurora-cluster' but feel free to name this whatever you'd like.


Filter by the word 'character' and change all of the results' dropdowns to 'utf8' (where applicable):


Click 'Save changes'


Filter by the word 'collation' and set all of applicable dropdowns to 'utf8_unicode_ci':

If you have already created a database before setting these options, you'll have to issue 'ALTER TABLE (table name) CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET UTF8' for every table in the database before continuing.

Recommended Settings

Make sure to select the DB cluster parameter group we created above when creating a new instance.


We recommended the following setup for Amazon RDS:

  • Size: db.t2.medium

  • Performance: 500 to 1000 IOPS (SSD)

  • Storage: 100 to 300 GB

  • Version: Aurora (Mysql 5.7 compability mode)

  • Multi AZ: Enabled

  • Backups: Enabled

Backup and Restore

Using an external database like Amazon RDS automatically disables database backups; the packagecloud-ctl backup-database command will automatically skip preparing a backup. We recommend that users using Amazon RDS prepare their own backup and restore procedure based on the documentation provided by their service provider.

For help with Amazon RDS, please consult the documentation Amazon AWS provides here:http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/CHAP_CommonTasks.BackupRestore.html

Any questions or issues with Amazon RDS backup and restore procedures should be directed to your AWS support person for assistance; we do not offer support for Amazon AWS products or services.

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