aws-rds

Display help for a specific RDS subcommand

$ aws rds [subcommand] help

$ aws rds stop-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [instance_identifier]

$ aws rds start-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [instance_identifier]

$ aws rds modify-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [instance_identifier] [parameters] --apply-immediately

$ aws rds apply-pending-maintenance-action --resource-identifier [database_arn] --apply-action [system-update] --opt-in-type [immediate]

$ aws rds modify-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [old_instance_identifier] --new-db-instance-identifier [new_instance_identifier]

$ aws rds reboot-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [instance_identifier]

$ aws rds delete-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [instance_identifier] --final-db-snapshot-identifier [snapshot_identifier] --delete-automated-backups

aws rds <subcommand> [--options] [arguments]

--db-instance-identifier <value>
    DB instance identifier; used in many subcommands like describe, modify

--db-cluster-identifier <value>
    DB cluster identifier for Aurora/multi-AZ setups

--region <value>
    AWS region (e.g., us-east-1); overrides default

--output <value>
    Output format: json|text|table

--query <value>
    JMESPath expression to filter output

--profile <value>
    Named profile for credentials

--db-snapshot-identifier <value>
    Snapshot identifier for restore/copy operations

--engine <value>
    DB engine: mysql|postgres|aurora-mysql etc.

--master-username <value>
    Admin username for new instances

--master-user-password <value>
    Admin password (sensitive)

--help (-h)
    Display help and exit

--debug
    Enable debug logging

The aws rds command, part of the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), enables management of Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) resources from Linux terminals. RDS supports managed databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and Amazon Aurora.

Key operations include creating/modifying DB instances and clusters, taking/restoring snapshots, configuring parameter groups, managing security, monitoring events, and scaling. Subcommands handle tasks such as describe-db-instances, create-db-cluster, and modify-db-parameter-group.

Requires AWS CLI v2 (preferred) installed via pip or package manager. Configure with aws configure for access keys, region, and output format. Supports JSON querying with JMESPath. IAM policies dictate permissions; e.g., rds:DescribeDBInstances for queries.

Ideal for automation via scripts, CI/CD, or infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform. Outputs structured data for parsing. Handles multi-region, multi-account setups with profiles.

Requires AWS CLI installed/configured and IAM permissions. Not all options apply to every subcommand; check aws rds <subcommand> help. Long-running ops like create may timeout; use --no-cli-pager. Secrets like passwords logged unless --no-cli-history.

describe-db-instances, create-db-instance, delete-db-instance, start-db-instance, modify-db-instance, create-db-snapshot, restore-db-instance-from-db-snapshot. Full list via aws rds help.

Uses ~/.aws/credentials or environment vars (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID). MFA/STS sessions supported via --profile.

Part of AWS CLI v1 (2013); refactored in v2 (2020) for better performance/modularity. RDS service launched 2009; CLI evolved with features like Aurora support (2014) and global databases.

aws(1), aws-ec2(1), mysql(1), psql(1)