RDS backup and snapshots in AWS - Mini Project: Build & Apply

RDS Backup and Snapshots Setup

📖 Scenario: You are managing a database for a small online store. To protect the data, you want to set up automatic backups and manual snapshots for your Amazon RDS instance.

🎯 Goal: Set up an Amazon RDS instance with automated backups enabled and create a manual snapshot of the database.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an RDS instance with automated backups enabled

Set the backup retention period to 7 days

Create a manual snapshot of the RDS instance

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Backing up databases is critical for data safety. Automated backups help recover from accidental data loss, and manual snapshots allow point-in-time recovery.

💼 Career

Cloud engineers and DevOps professionals often configure RDS backups and snapshots to ensure database reliability and disaster recovery.

1

Create an RDS instance with automated backups enabled

Write an AWS CloudFormation resource named MyDBInstance of type AWS::RDS::DBInstance with the following properties: DBInstanceIdentifier set to mydbinstance, Engine set to mysql, MasterUsername set to admin, MasterUserPassword set to password123, and BackupRetentionPeriod set to 7 to enable automated backups for 7 days.

AWS

# Define the AWS::RDS::DBInstance resource with automated backups enabled
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the BackupRetentionPeriod property to enable automated backups and set the retention period.

2

Add a DB subnet group for the RDS instance

Add a resource named MyDBSubnetGroup of type AWS::RDS::DBSubnetGroup with DBSubnetGroupDescription set to Subnet group for mydbinstance and SubnetIds set to a list containing subnet-12345 and subnet-67890. Then, update the MyDBInstance resource to include the DBSubnetGroupName property referencing MyDBSubnetGroup.

AWS

Resources:
  MyDBInstance:
    Type: AWS::RDS::DBInstance
    Properties:
      DBInstanceIdentifier: mydbinstance
      Engine: mysql
      MasterUsername: admin
      MasterUserPassword: password123
      BackupRetentionPeriod: 7
      # Add DBSubnetGroupName property here

  # Define MyDBSubnetGroup resource here
  # Your code here

Need a hint?

Use AWS::RDS::DBSubnetGroup to define the subnet group and reference it in the DB instance.

3

Create a manual snapshot of the RDS instance

Add a resource named MyDBSnapshot of type AWS::RDS::DBSnapshot with DBInstanceIdentifier set to mydbinstance and DBSnapshotIdentifier set to mydbsnapshot.

AWS

Resources:
  MyDBSubnetGroup:
    Type: AWS::RDS::DBSubnetGroup
    Properties:
      DBSubnetGroupDescription: Subnet group for mydbinstance
      SubnetIds:
        - subnet-12345
        - subnet-67890

  MyDBInstance:
    Type: AWS::RDS::DBInstance
    Properties:
      DBInstanceIdentifier: mydbinstance
      Engine: mysql
      MasterUsername: admin
      MasterUserPassword: password123
      BackupRetentionPeriod: 7
      DBSubnetGroupName: !Ref MyDBSubnetGroup

  # Add MyDBSnapshot resource here
  # Your code here

Need a hint?

Use AWS::RDS::DBSnapshot to create a manual snapshot of the RDS instance.

4

Add deletion policy to retain the snapshot on stack deletion

Add a DeletionPolicy attribute with value Retain to the MyDBSnapshot resource to keep the snapshot even if the CloudFormation stack is deleted.

AWS

Resources:
  MyDBSubnetGroup:
    Type: AWS::RDS::DBSubnetGroup
    Properties:
      DBSubnetGroupDescription: Subnet group for mydbinstance
      SubnetIds:
        - subnet-12345
        - subnet-67890

  MyDBInstance:
    Type: AWS::RDS::DBInstance
    Properties:
      DBInstanceIdentifier: mydbinstance
      Engine: mysql
      MasterUsername: admin
      MasterUserPassword: password123
      BackupRetentionPeriod: 7
      DBSubnetGroupName: !Ref MyDBSubnetGroup

  MyDBSnapshot:
    Type: AWS::RDS::DBSnapshot
    Properties:
      DBInstanceIdentifier: mydbinstance
      DBSnapshotIdentifier: mydbsnapshot
    # Add DeletionPolicy here
    # Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the DeletionPolicy attribute at the resource level to keep the snapshot after stack deletion.