Seamlessly Migrate Your On-Premises MySQL Database to Amazon RDS Using MySQL Workbench

Overview

Migrating an on-premises MySQL database to Amazon RDS MySQL through MySQL Workbench is a carefully orchestrated process that seamlessly transitions your data from a self-managed environment to Amazon’s managed cloud service. This journey involves steps that balance technical precision with strategic planning to ensure a successful migration.

Introduction to Services

Amazon RDS, or Amazon Relational Database Service, is a fully managed database service offered by AWS. It simplifies setting up, operating, and scaling a relational database in the cloud, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, or Microsoft SQL Server. With Amazon RDS, users can offload routine database tasks like provisioning, patching, backup, recovery, and scaling, allowing them to focus more on their applications and data. It offers high availability, security, and performance, making it a popular choice for businesses seeking a reliable and scalable database solution in the AWS cloud environment.

MySQL Workbench is a powerful, open-source graphical tool for database administrators, developers, and data analysts. It provides an intuitive user interface for managing and interacting with MySQL databases. With schema design, SQL query development, performance analysis, and data modeling features, MySQL Workbench simplifies database development and maintenance tasks. It’s an essential tool for anyone working with MySQL databases, offering a user-friendly environment for database design, querying, and optimization.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1 – Assessment and Planning

Begin by assessing your on-premises MySQL database’s structure, schema, and dependencies. Understand the data volume, performance requirements, and potential migration challenges. Plan the migration timeline, identify maintenance windows, and ensure adequate resources for a smooth transition.

Step 2 – Amazon RDS Setup

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a fully managed cloud database service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It offers a streamlined and scalable solution for deploying, operating, and scaling relational databases without manual administrative tasks.

Amazon RDS supports relational database engines, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server. It abstracts much of the traditional database management complexity, allowing developers and administrators to focus on application development and data management rather than infrastructure management.

Set up the Amazon RDS MySQL instance, configuring it according to your application’s needs. Define security and subnet groups, and choose the appropriate instance size and storage capacity. Make sure to replicate the desired environment on Amazon RDS.

Let’s create an Amazon RDS

• Log in to AWS account and search for Amazon RDS, click Create database, choose standard Create, and MySQL as Engine.
• Select the Engine version and Template as Free Tier since this is for testing purposes.
• Set the name for DB Instance Identifier and set user credentials
• Select Burstable class as “t2.micro” and choose your VPC

• Choose public access as “Yes” and choose the Security Group or create a new one if it doesn’t exist.

• Set Database Name, parameter group, option group, and uncheck backup

• Finally, click on
• After creating the Amazon RDS, once it’s available, go to MySQL Workbench and click “Database” to connect to the database.
• Configure the setup for the connection of Amazon RDS on MySQL Workbench.
• Note: All the configuration details will be available in the Amazon RDS Database details section.

• Once it is successfully connected, we can check if any databases are visible, which were created while setting up the Amazon RDS Database.

Step 3 – Data Preprocessing

Before migration, clean up your data by identifying and resolving inconsistencies, duplicates, and outdated records. This step helps reduce unnecessary data volume and ensures data integrity during migration.

Step 4 – MySQL Workbench Configuration

Install and configure MySQL Workbench on your local machine. Establish a connection to the source (on-premises) MySQL database and the target Amazon RDS MySQL instance. This enables seamless data transfer between the two environments.

• After installing the MySQL Workbench, there will be a few databases by default, as shown below. If you want to create any database, you can use “create database database_name”,

For example, here, the existing sample database has a table called “employee” with “id” and “name” as columns.

• Insert some data into the employee table

Step 5 – Schema Migration

• Using MySQL Workbench, generate a schema migration script that replicates the structure of your on-premises database on Amazon RDS.
• Note: Ensure compatibility between the MySQL versions and handle any syntax differences or constraints.
• Follow the below steps for setting up the source (local – on-premises) and destination of databases.

• Configure the setup for the Source and Target Databases connection on MySQL Workbench.

Step 6 – Data Transfer

• Utilize MySQL Workbench’s Data Migration feature to migrate the data from the on-premises MySQL database to Amazon RDS. This process involves copying tables, rows, and associated data. Monitor the progress and address any errors that might occur.
• Follow the below steps to transfer the data between the source (local – on premises) and destination.

• At the end, you will get the below Migration Report, which has all the details of migration status.

Step 7 – Testing and Validation

• After data transfer, rigorously test the application’s functionality on Amazon RDS. Verify that queries, transactions, and data manipulation operations work as expected. Conduct performance tests to ensure the database meets response time and throughput requirements.
• As shown below, the employee table has migrated into the Amazon RDS MySQL Database.

Conclusion

Drop a query if you have any questions regarding Amazon RDS and we will get back to you quickly.

About CloudThat

CloudThat is an official AWS (Amazon Web Services) Advanced Consulting Partner and Training partner, AWS Migration Partner, AWS Data and Analytics Partner, AWS DevOps Competency Partner, Amazon QuickSight Service Delivery Partner, AWS EKS Service Delivery Partner, and Microsoft Gold Partner, helping people develop knowledge of the cloud and help their businesses aim for higher goals using best-in-industry cloud computing practices and expertise. We are on a mission to build a robust cloud computing ecosystem by disseminating knowledge on technological intricacies within the cloud space. Our blogs, webinars, case studies, and white papers enable all the stakeholders in the cloud computing sphere.

To get started, go through our Consultancy page and Managed Services Package, CloudThat’s offerings.