Migrating a MariaDB Database to Amazon RDS

By Bishal Dhimal | Dec 2025

📌 Table of Contents Objectives Step 1: Create an RDS Database Instance Step 2: Export Data Using mysqldump Step 3: Connect a SQL Client to RDS Step 4: Migrate Data to RDS Step 5: Configure Web Application Optional: MySQL Setup on EC2 References

Objectives

Create an RDS database instance.
Export data from a MariaDB database using mysqldump.
Connect a SQL client to an RDS database.
Migrate data from a MariaDB database on EC2 to RDS.
Update a web application to use the new RDS database.

1️⃣ Step 1: Create an RDS Database Instance

In the AWS Management Console:

Go to RDS → Databases → Create database.
Select Engine: MariaDB/MySQL.
Choose Template: Free-tier (for testing) or Production (for prod workloads).
Set DB instance identifier (e.g., prod-rds-db).
Configure VPC, Subnet Group, and Security Groups for network access.
Enable Public Access if required and configure backup, encryption, and monitoring as per production best practices.

2️⃣ Step 2: Export Data from MariaDB Using mysqldump

On the EC2 instance hosting MariaDB:


mysqldump --databases  -u  -p > /path/to/db_backup.sql

Tips: Use the --single-transaction flag for InnoDB tables to avoid locking.

3️⃣ Step 3: Connect a SQL Client to RDS


# Connect using hostname
mysql -h  -u  -p

# Or
mysql --hostname  -u  -p

Ensure your RDS security group allows inbound traffic from your client IP.

4️⃣ Step 4: Migrate Data to RDS

Restore the database backup to RDS:


# Option 1: From within mysql client
mysql -u  -p -h 
CREATE DATABASE ;
USE ;
SOURCE /path/to/db_backup.sql;

# Option 2: Direct import from shell
mysql -u  -p -h  <

Production tips:

Use parameterized transactions for large datasets.
Consider aws s3 cp to upload the dump to S3 and then import using EC2 with higher network throughput.
Verify row counts and indexes after import.

5️⃣ Step 5: Configure Web Application

Update your web application's configuration to point to the new RDS endpoint.
Use AWS Secrets Manager to securely store database credentials.
Stop the old MariaDB service on EC2 to prevent accidental writes:
```
sudo systemctl stop mariadb
```
Test application functionality and connection.

Optional: Install & Configure MySQL on EC2

Useful if you need a local test environment before migrating:


# Install MySQL
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mysql-server -y

# Secure installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Create a new MySQL user
sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE USER ''@'%' IDENTIFIED BY '';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO ''@'%' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

# Configure MySQL to allow remote access
sudo nano /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf
# Change: bind-address = 127.0.0.1 → bind-address = 0.0.0.0

# Restart MySQL service
sudo systemctl restart mysql

# Test connection locally
mysql -u  -p

# Test connection remotely (if remote access enabled)
mysql -u  -h  -p

References

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