AWS MySQL Database Disappearing

Question

I have a MySQL database running on AWS RDS . I have a node.js server that queries the MySQL database. Everything is fine for most days but around once a week, my node server says "Unknown database."

I try to query the database with MySQL Workbench and receive the same message. I have checked my instance and it is running fine with the status being "available." To fix the issue, I have to recreate the database which means I lose all my data.

Has anyone had issues with this? This is very frustrating since I have no idea what would cause this problem.

Answer 1

We're running MySQL RDS databases since AWS launch and never had such an issue. Are you sure the created database is really gone? Do you maybe have a job running at an interval that doesn't work as intended? What do the RDS logs say?

To debug the issue you can

• have a look at RDS server logs
• enable query logging to table and analyze queries fired at the server
• run a small instance which is not touched for the period to proof it's not a RDS-related isssue

Answer 2

A few years later...lol. I had the same problem and realised you have to be connected to the same domain in AWS as your database. If you know the connection string of your database, find the domain it is in. Then in the top right hand side of the aws console you should see a drop down that shows the current domain you are logged into. My guess is the two are not the same. Change the value of the drop down and you should see your database.