Connect To An RDS PostgreSQL Database

You can connect to an RDS PostgreSQL database remotely via psql. First, you need to tell AWS that connections from your IP address are allowed. This is done by configuring the VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) that is associated with the RDS instance. You'll need to add an inbound rule to the Security Group associated with that VPC. You'll add an inbound rule that allows a Postgres connection on port 5432 from your IP address -- which is identified by a CIDR address.

Once this rule has been added to the security groups associated with the VPC that is associated with your RDS instance, you'll be able to connect from your machine with psql.

$ psql my-rds-endpoint.cbazqrhkmyo.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com \
    --port 5432 \
    --user rdsusername \
    postgres

Assuming the database username is rdsusername and the specific database is named postgres, you'll be prompted for that user's password and then connected.

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