Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL

Last updated on Jun 05, 2023
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Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL is a fully managed, PostgreSQL-compatible relational database engine that combines the speed and reliability of high-end commercial databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open-source databases. Its enterprise database capabilities combined with compatibility with PostgreSQL helps deliver throughput that is much higher compared to the standard PostgreSQL running on the same hardware.

You can ingest data from your Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL database using Hevo Pipelines and replicate it to a Destination of your choice.

Prerequisites

Perform the following steps to configure your Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Source:

Set up Log-based Incremental Replication

1. Create a parameter group

  1. Open the Amazon RDS console.

  2. In the left navigation pane, select Parameter groups.

  3. Click Create parameter group.

  4. Select the instance with Type as DB cluster parameter group.

    Example: postgresql cluster parameter group

  5. Specify the required fields and click Create.

2. Configure the parameters

For the parameter group you just created:

  1. Click Edit parameters in the top right.

  2. Search and update the following parameters:

    Parameter Value Description
    max_replication_slots 5 The number of clients that can connect to the server. Default value: 10. RDS recommends to set this value to at least 5 so that internal replication by RDS is not affected.
    rds.log_replication 1 The setting to enable or disable logical replication. The value of 1 is required to enable write-ahead logging (WAL) at the logical level.
    wal_sender_timeout 0 The time, in seconds, after which PostgreSQL terminates the replication connections due to inactivity. Default value: 60 seconds. You must set the value to 0 so that the connections are never terminated and your Pipeline does not fail.
    You can use the following query to check the value configured for the parameter:
    show wal_sender_timeout

3. Apply the parameter group to your PostgreSQL database

  1. In your Amazon RDS console, click Databases in the left navigation pane.

  2. In the Databases page, click the DB identifier for your database, and the, Modify.

  3. Select the DB cluster parameter group you just created.

  4. Set the backup retention period to at least 3 days. This setting defines the number of days for which automated backups are retained.

    Database settings

For your settings to take affect, reboot the DB instance.

Whitelist Hevo’s IP Addresses

You need to whitelist the Hevo IP addresses for your region to enable Hevo to connect to your PostgreSQL database.

To do this:

1. Add inbound rules

  1. Open the Amazon RDS console.

  2. In the left navigation pane, click Databases (or Instances if you’re using an older version).

  3. In the Databases section on the right, click the DB identifier of the Amazon Aurora instance to configure a security group on.

    DB Identifier

  4. In the Connectivity & security tab, click the link text under Security, VPC security groups.

    VPC Security groups

  5. In the Actions drop-down on the top right, click Edit inbound rules.

    Edit inbound rules

  6. In the Edit inbound rules page:

    1. Click Add rule.

    2. Add a new rule with Hevo’s IP addresses for your region to give access to the PostgreSQL instance.

    3. Click Save rules.

      Add rule

2. Configure Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

  1. In the Amazon RDS console, click the VPC link text.

    VPC link

  2. In the Your VPCs page, click on the VPC ID, and then, the Network ACL link.

    ACL link

  3. Click the Inbound Rules tab and ensure that the IP addresses you added have a setting of ALLOW.

    Check rules are enabled

Grant Privileges to the User

Grant privileges to the database user connecting to the PostgreSQL database as follows:

  1. Log into your Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL database as a user with grant privilege.

  2. Enter the following commands to give accesses to the database user:

     GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE <database_name> TO <database_username>;
 GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA <schema_name> TO <database_username>;

  3. Alter the schema’s default privileges to grant SELECT privileges on tables to the database user:

     ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA <schema_name> GRANT SELECT ON TABLES TO <database_username>;

    Note: If you want to use Log-based Incremental Replication, grant the rds_replication role to the database user. Log in to the database as a user with the rds_superuser role and run the following command:

     GRANT rds_replication TO <database_username>;

Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings

  1. In the Configure your Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Source page, specify the following:

    Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL settings

    • Pipeline Name: A unique name for your Pipeline, not exceeding 255 characters.

    • Database Host: The Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL host’s IP address or DNS.

    • Database Port: The port on which your PostgreSQL server is listening for connections. Default value: 5432.

    • Database User: The read-only user who has the permissions to read tables in your database.

    • Database Password: The password for the read-only user.

    • Select an Ingestion Mode: The desired mode by which you want to ingest data from the Source. This section is expanded by default. However, you can collapse the section by clicking SEE LESS. Default value: Logical Replication.

      The available Ingestion Modes are Logical Replication, Table, and Custom SQL. logical replication is the recommended ingestion mode and selected by default.

      Ingestion Modes

      • For Ingestion mode as Table, refer to section, Object Settings for steps to configure the objects to be replicated.

      • For Ingestion mode as Logical Replication, follow the steps provided in each PostgreSQL variant document to set up logical replication.

      Note:

      • PostgreSQL does not support logical replication for the read replica.

      • For Custom SQL ingestion mode, all Events loaded to the Destination are billable.

    • Database Name: The database that you wish to replicate.

    • Connection Settings:

      • Connect through SSH: Enable this option to connect to Hevo using an SSH tunnel, instead of directly connecting your PostgreSQL database host to Hevo. This provides an additional level of security to your database by not exposing your PostgreSQL setup to the public. Read Connecting Through SSH.

        If this option is disabled, you must whitelist Hevo’s IP addresses. Refer to the content for your PostgreSQL variant for steps to do this.

      • Use SSL: Enable it to use SSL encrypted connection. You should also enable this if you are using Heroku PostgreSQL databases. To enable this, specify the following:

        • CA File: The file containing the SSL server certificate authority (CA).

        • Client Certificate: The client public key certificate file.

        • Client Key: The client private key file.

    • Advanced Settings

      • Load Historical Data: Applicable for Pipelines with Logical Replication mode. If this option is enabled, the entire table data is fetched during the first run of the Pipeline. If disabled, Hevo loads only the data that was written in your database after the time of creation of the Pipeline.

      • Merge Tables: Applicable for Pipelines with Logical Replication mode. If this option is enabled, Hevo merges tables with the same name from different databases while loading the data to the warehouse. Hevo loads the Database Name field with each record. If disabled, the database name is prefixed to each table name. Read How does the Merge Tables feature work?.

      • Include New Tables in the Pipeline: Applicable for all Ingestion modes except Custom SQL. If enabled, Hevo automatically ingests data from tables created in the Source after the Pipeline has been built. These may include completely new tables or previously deleted tables that have been re-created in the Source. If disabled, new and re-created tables are not ingested automatically. They are added in SKIPPED state in the objects list, in the Pipeline Overview page. You can update their status to INCLUDED to ingest data. You can change this setting later. You can include these objects post-Pipeline creation to ingest data.

  2. Click TEST CONNECTION. This button is enabled once you specify all the mandatory fields. Hevo’s underlying connectivity checker validates the connection settings you provide.

  3. Click TEST & CONTINUE to proceed for setting up the Destination. This button is enabled once you specify all the mandatory fields.

Object Settings

Object settings must be configured if the Ingestion mode is Table.

To do this:

  • Once your respective Source connection settings are specified as per section Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings above, select the objects to be replicated in the SELECT the Objects you want to replicate page, and then click CONTINUE.

    Object Selection

    Note: Each object represents a table in your database.

  • In the CONFIGURE SOURCE OBJECTS page, specify the query mode to be used for each selected object.

Additional Information

Read the detailed Hevo documentation for the following related topics:

Source Considerations

  • Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL does not support Logical Replication on read replicas. To enable log-based replication, select a master database instance.

Limitations

  • The data type Array in the Source is automatically mapped to Varchar at the Destination. No other mapping is currently supported.

See Also

Revision History

Refer to the following table for the list of key updates made to this page:

Date Release Description of Change
Apr-21-2023 NA Updated section, Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings to add a note to inform users that all loaded Events are billable for Custom SQL mode-based Pipelines.
Mar-09-2023 2.09 Updated section, Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings to mention about SEE MORE in the Select an Ingestion Mode section.
Dec-19-2022 2.04 Updated section, Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings to add information that you must specify all fields to create a Pipeline.
Dec-07-2022 2.03 Updated section, Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings to mention about including skipped objects post-Pipeline creation.
Dec-07-2022 2.03 Updated section, Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings to mention about the connectivity checker.
Jul-04-2022 NA - Added sections, Specify Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Connection Settings and Object Settings.
Apr-25-2022 NA - Added section, Source Considerations.
- Added a prerequisite for connecting to a master database if logical replication is required.
Feb-07-2022 1.81 Updated section, Whitelist Hevo’s IP Address to remove details about Outbound rules as they are not required.
Jan-24-2022 1.80 Removed from Limitations that Hevo does not support UUID datatype as primary key.
Dec-20-2021 1.78 Updated section, Configure the parameters.
Sep-09-2021 1.71 Updated the section, Limitations to include information about columns with the UUID data type not being supported as a primary key.
Jun-14-2021 1.65 Updated the Grant Privileges to the User section to include latest commands.
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