How to export database from Amazon RDS MySQL instance to local instance?

Question

AWS documentation has this page that talks about importing and exporting data from MySQL server, but it's mostly about import. The only thing I see in their documentation is a way to export 5.6 data using replication, which is documented here. I was wondering if there is a simpler way to export data using mysqldump and load in local database. The database that I want to export is not huge, may be 1GB, so size is not a issue.

Solution 1

Sure.

Take the dump from the remote RDS Server:

mysqldump -h rds.host.name -u remote_user_name -p remote_db > dump.sql

When prompted for password, provide the password for user=remote_user_name (remote server)

Upload it to your local mySql instance:

mysql -u local_user_name -p local_db < dump.sql

Also, if you own an ec2 server in the same region, I'd suggest take a dump there. zip the file and then scp it to your local machine. Typically, the compressed version of the file would be much smaller and you'd be able to transfer it quicker.

Solution 2

To export db from RDS

mysqldump -h rds.host.name -u remote_user_name -p remote_db > remote_db.sql

When prompted for password, provide the password

To import db on RDS

mysql -h rds.host.name -u remote_user_name -p remote_db < remote_db.sql

When prompted for password, provide the password

Solution 3

Another very easy option is by using the MySql Workbench. In the toolbar select 'Database' and 'Data export'. Select the right options, the target file ... and you're done! Easy does it!

Comments

[Michael - sqlbot]

Or, add the --compress option to mysqldump for faster transfer from a remote server. The resulting output files isn't compressed, but over the wire you can see a significant bandwidth savings and faster transfer.

[nafg]

But you may have to add some more flags to compensate, like -K so you don't get foreign key issues on import

[homebrand]

If you can't connect, you may need to add your IP to the security groups. It's in EC2 dashboard > Network and Security > Security Groups

[JohnW]

Unfortunately this can be incredibly slow with even moderately-sized data sets.

[TJ-]

Yes. stackoverflow.com/a/2987371/174184