Contact UsGet started
© 2025 Direct Cursus Technology L.L.C.

Migrating data from AWS RDS for PostgreSQL to Yandex Managed Service for PostgreSQL using Yandex Data Transfer

Written by
Updated at May 5, 2025

To set up data transfers from Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL to Managed Service for PostgreSQL databases using Data Transfer:

  1. Prepare the test data.
  2. Set up and activate your transfer.
  3. Test your transfer.

If you no longer need the resources you created, delete them.

Data transfers are supported for PostgreSQL starting with version 9.4. Make sure the PostgreSQL version in Managed Service for PostgreSQL is not older than the PostgreSQL version in Amazon RDS.

Note

Use of Amazon services is not part of the Yandex Cloud Terms of Use and is governed by a separate arrangement between the client and Amazon. Yandex is not responsible for the relationship between Amazon and the client arising in connection with the client's use of Amazon products or services.

The support cost includes:

Getting started

Set up your infrastructure:

  1. If you do not have an AWS account, create one.

  2. In Amazon RDS, create a group of parameters and set its rds.logical_replication parameter to 1. You can leave the other parameters at their defaults.

  3. Create an instance of Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL (source cluster).

    When creating an instance, configure it as required:

    • Enable public access for the instance.
    • In the instance's security group, add a rule which allows incoming TCP traffic from any IP address to the PostgreSQL instance port (5432 by default).
    • Assign the instance the parameter group you created earlier.

    Note

    If you changed the parameter group of the created instance, restart the instance for the changes to take effect. While restarting, the instance will be unavailable.

  4. Create a Managed Service for PostgreSQL target cluster in any suitable configuration with publicly available hosts and the following settings:

    • DB name: mpg_db.
    • Username: mpg_user.
    • Password: <target_password>.

  5. Make sure that the Managed Service for PostgreSQL cluster's security group has been set up correctly and allows connecting to the cluster from the internet.

  6. Set up an egress NAT gateway for the subnet that hosts the target cluster.

  7. Download an AWS certificate for the region where the Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL instance resides.

  1. If you do not have Terraform yet, install it.

  2. Get the authentication credentials. You can add them to environment variables or specify them later in the provider configuration file.

  3. Set up the AWS CLI. The AWS provider for Terraform uses the AWS CLI configuration to access the service.

  4. Configure the Terraform provider. There is no need to create a provider configuration file manually, you can download and save it to a separate working directory.

  5. Edit the provider.tf file:

    • Specify the parameter values for the yandex provider. If you did not add the authentication credentials to environment variables, specify them in the configuration file.

    • Add the aws provider to required_providers:

      required_providers {
  ...
  aws = {
    source  = "hashicorp/aws"
    version = ">= 3.70"
  }
}

    • Add a description for the aws provider. In the parameters, specify the region where the Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL instance will reside (eu-north-1 in this example):

      provider "aws" {
  region = "eu-north-1"
}

  6. Download the rds-pg-mpg.tf configuration file to the same working directory.

    This file describes:

    • Infrastructure required for the Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL instance to run:

      • Subnet group
      • Security group rule
      • Parameter group

      The instance will use the default network, subnets, and security group.

    • Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL instance (source cluster).

    • Infrastructure required for the Managed Service for PostgreSQL target cluster to run:

    • Managed Service for PostgreSQL target cluster.

    • Source and target endpoints.

    • Transfer.

  7. Download an AWS certificate for the region where the Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL instance will reside.

  8. Specify the following in the rds-pg-mpg.tf file:

    • PostgreSQL versions for Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and Managed Service for PostgreSQL.
    • Parameter family for the Amazon RDS parameter group.
    • Path to the previously downloaded AWS certificate.
    • Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and Managed Service for PostgreSQL user passwords.

  9. Run the terraform init command in the directory with the configuration file. This command initializes the provider specified in the configuration files and enables you to use the provider resources and data sources.

  10. Check that the Terraform configuration files are correct using this command:

    terraform validate

    If there are any errors in the configuration files, Terraform will point them out.

  11. Create the required infrastructure:

    1. Run this command to view the planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources to update and their parameters. This is a verification step that does not apply changes to your resources.

    2. If everything looks correct, apply the changes:

      1. Run this command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm updating the resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

    All the required resources will be created in the specified folder. You can check resource availability and their settings in the management console.

Prepare the test data

  1. Install the psql utility:

    sudo apt update && sudo apt install --yes postgresql-client

  2. Connect to the database in the Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL source cluster:

    psql "host=<host_URL> \
port=<PostgreSQL_port> \
sslmode=verify-full \
sslrootcert=<certificate_file_path> \
dbname=<DB_name> \
user=<username>"

    The default PostgreSQL port is 5432.

    Note

    It may take up to an hour after creating the instance for a connection to the instance over the internet to be available.

  3. Add test data to the database. As an example, we will use a simple table with information transmitted by car sensors.

    Create a table:

    CREATE TABLE measurements (
    device_id varchar(200) NOT NULL,
    datetime timestamp NOT NULL,
    latitude real NOT NULL,
    longitude real NOT NULL,
    altitude real NOT NULL,
    speed real NOT NULL,
    battery_voltage real,
    cabin_temperature real NOT NULL,
    fuel_level real,
    PRIMARY KEY (device_id)
);

    Populate the table with data:

    INSERT INTO measurements VALUES
('iv9a94th6rztooxh5ur2', '2022-06-05 17:27:00', 55.70329032, 37.65472196,  427.5,    0, 23.5, 17, NULL),
('rhibbh3y08qmz3sdbrbu', '2022-06-06 09:49:54', 55.71294467, 37.66542005, 429.13, 55.5, NULL, 18, 32);

Set up and activate the transfer

  1. Create a source endpoint of the PostgreSQL type and specify the cluster connection parameters in it:

    • Installation type: Custom installation.
    • Host: Host URL.
    • Port: 5432.
    • CA certificate: Select the AWS certificate file.
    • Database: postgres.
    • User: postgres.
    • Password: <user_password>.

  2. Create a target endpoint of the PostgreSQL type and specify the cluster connection settings in it:

    • Installation type: Managed Service for PostgreSQL cluster.
    • Managed Service for PostgreSQL cluster: <target_cluster_name> from the drop-down list.
    • Database: mpg_db.
    • User: mpg_user.
    • Password: <user_password>.

  3. Create a transfer of the Snapshot and replication type that will use the endpoints you created.

  4. Activate the transfer and wait until its status switches to Replicating.

  1. In the rds-pg-mpg.tf file, set the transfer_enabled parameter to 1.

  2. Make sure the Terraform configuration files are correct using this command:

    terraform validate

    If there are any errors in the configuration files, Terraform will point them out.

  3. Create the required infrastructure:

    1. Run this command to view the planned changes:

      terraform plan

      If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources to update and their parameters. This is a verification step that does not apply changes to your resources.

    2. If everything looks correct, apply the changes:

      1. Run this command:

        terraform apply

      2. Confirm updating the resources.

      3. Wait for the operation to complete.

  4. The transfer will be activated automatically. Wait for its status to change to Replicating.

Test your transfer

Check the transfer performance by testing the copy and replication processes.

Test the copy process

  1. Connect to the Managed Service for PostgreSQL target cluster database.

  2. Run this request:

    SELECT * FROM measurements;

Test the replication process

  1. Connect to the database in the Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL source cluster:

    psql "host=<host_URL> \
port=<PostgreSQL_port> \
sslmode=verify-full \
sslrootcert=<certificate_file_path> \
dbname=<DB_name> \
user=<username>"

    The default PostgreSQL port is 5432.

  2. Populate the measurements table with data:

    INSERT INTO measurements VALUES
('iv7b74th678tooxdagrf', '2020-06-08 17:45:00', 53.70987913, 36.62549834, 378.0, 20.5, 5.3, 20, NULL);

  3. Make sure the new row has been added to the target database:

    1. Connect to the Managed Service for PostgreSQL target cluster database.

    2. Run this request:

      SELECT * FROM measurements;

    Note

    It may take a few minutes to replicate the data.

Delete the resources you created

Note

Before deleting the resources you created, deactivate the transfer.

Some resources are not free of charge. To avoid paying for them, delete the resources you no longer need:

  1. In the terminal window, go to the directory containing the infrastructure plan.

    Warning

    Make sure the directory has no Terraform manifests with the resources you want to keep. Terraform deletes all resources that were created using the manifests in the current directory.

  2. Delete resources:

    1. Run this command:

      terraform destroy

    2. Confirm deleting the resources and wait for the operation to complete.

    All the resources described in the Terraform manifests will be deleted.

Previous
Migrating data from Managed Service for MySQL® to Managed Service for PostgreSQL using Data Transfer
Next
Migrating data from Managed Service for MySQL® to Managed Service for Greenplum® using Data Transfer