Deploying MySQL on RDS and Joining Tables Like It's Production

Rds challenge lab devto post 🗄️🐬 aws #rds #database #tutorial Build Your DB Server and Interact With Your DB INTRO Did a hands-on AWS challenge lab on Amazon RDS. Task: spin up a managed database, connect from a Linux server, and run real SQL — create tables, insert data, join across tables. No hand-holding here, just requirements to figure out myself. Here's the walkthrough. SCENARIO Service: Amazon RDS Role: Cloud/DB Admin Goal: Launch RDS under set constraints, connect via EC2, run SQL (create, insert, select, join) ARCHITECTURE LinuxServer (EC2) sits in the Lab VPC — this is the client RDS instance (Aurora or MySQL) in the same VPC Security group lets LinuxServer talk to RDS Flow: LinuxServer -> MySQL client (port 3306) -> RDS -> tables STEP 1: LAUNCH THE RDS INSTANCE Constraints for this lab: Engine: Aurora (Provisioned) or MySQL — no serverless Template: Dev/Test or Free tier No standby instance (single-AZ only) Instance size: db.t3.micro to db.t3.medium Storage: gp2, up to 100 GB — no Provisioned IOPS Network: Lab VPC Security group must allow LinuxServer access MySQL only: turn off Enhanced Monitoring On-Demand only These limits keep costs in check — Provisioned IOPS and Multi-AZ are the fastest ways to blow up an RDS bill. Noted the master username, password, and endpoint — needed next. STEP 2: CONNECT TO THE LINUX SERVER Downloaded the PEM key, grabbed the LinuxServer address, connected over SSH: chmod 400 labsuser.pem ssh -i labsuser.pem ec2-user@<LinuxServer-address> This box is just the SQL client — it needs network access to RDS, nothing more. STEP 3: INSTALL MYSQL CLIENT AND CONNECT On the LinuxServer: sudo yum install mysql -y Connect using the master credentials from Step 1: mysql -h <rds-endpoint> -u <master-username> -p If it hangs, it's almost always the security group — check port 3306 inbound. STEP 4: CREATE THE RESTART TABLE CREATE DATABASE lab_db ; USE lab_db ; CREATE TABLE RESTART ( StudentID INT , StudentName VARCHAR ( 100 ), RestartCity VA