Backup RDS SQL database to S3

You can perform native backups of Amazon Relational Database instances running SQL Server. You may want to store the backup in S3 storage, and using an Octopus runbook is an easy way to automate the process.

In the following example, we’ll use the AWS RDS SQL Server - Backup to S3 Bucket community step template.

AWS prerequisites

• An AWS RDS SQL Server instance.
• An Amazon S3 Bucket.
• An AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) Role to access the bucket.
• The SQLSERVER_BACKUP_RESTORE option added to an option group on the DB instance.

For more information on setting up AWS RDS instances for native backups, please see this AWS knowledgebase article.

Create the runbook

1. To create a runbook, navigate to Project ➜ Operations ➜ Runbooks ➜ Add Runbook.
2. Give the runbook a name and click SAVE.
3. Click DEFINE YOUR RUNBOOK PROCESS, then click ADD STEP.
4. Add a new step template from the community library called AWS RDS SQL Server - Backup to S3 Bucket.
5. Fill out all the parameters in the step. It’s best practice to use variables rather than entering the values directly in the step parameters:

ParameterDescriptionExampleSQL ServerThe SQL Server to perform the work on.mydatabase.region.rds.amazonaws.comSQL LoginThe login of the user who has permissions to create a database.backupuserSQL PasswordThe password of the user who has permissions to create SQL Logins.MyGreatPassword!Database NameThe name of the database to backup.MyDatabaseS3 Bucket NameThe name of the bucket (including any sub directories).MyS3Bucket/backups/sqlBackup File Name and ExtensionThe name of the back up file (including the extension).MyBackup.bak

To use integrated SQL authentication, leave SQL Login and SQL Password blank.

The step template will do the following:

• Invokes rds_backup_database stored procedure on the RDS instance.
• Display backup progress by percentage.
• Upload backup file to the S3 bucket.
• The task will end when the backup file is uploaded successfully.

Samples

We have a Target - SQL Server Space on our Samples instance of Octopus. You can sign in as Guest to take a look at this example.

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