Step 3: Connect to a DB Instance Through a Private Network

You can connect to a DB instance through a common connection or an SSL connection. The SSL connection encrypts data and is more secure.

Prerequisites

Log in to the ECS.
- To connect to a DB instance through an ECS, you must ensure that:
  - The ECS and DB instance must be in the same VPC.
  - The ECS must be allowed by the security group to access RDS DB instances.
    - If the security group to which the target DB instance belongs is the default security group, you do not need to configure security group rules.
    - If the security group to which the target DB instance belongs is not the default security group, check whether the security group rules allow the ECS to connect to the DB instance. For details, see section Step 2: Configure Security Group Rules.
      If the security group rules allow the access from the ECS, the ECS can connect to the DB instance.
      
      If the security group rules do not allow the access from the ECS, you need to add a security group rule. The ECS must be allowed by the security group to access RDS DB instances.
Use a database client to connect to the target DB instance.
You can use a database client to connect to the target DB instance in the Linux or Windows OS.
- In the Linux OS, install the MySQL client on the device that can access RDS. It is recommended that you download a MySQL client running a version later than that of the DB instance.
  For details about how to obtain and install the MySQL client, see section How Can I Install the MySQL Client?
- In the Windows OS, you can use any common database client to connect to the target DB instance in a similar way.
  The database client MySQL-Front is used as an example in Using MySQL-Front to Connect to a DB Instance.

Using MySQL-Front to Connect to a DB Instance

Start MySQL-Front.
In the displayed dialog box, click New.

Figure 1 Connection management

Enter the information of the DB instance to be connected and click Ok, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Adding an account

**Table 1** Parameter description
Parameter	Description
Name	Indicates the name of the database connection task. If you do not set this parameter, it will be the same as the Host value by default.
Host	Indicates the floating IP address of the DB instance to be connected. To view the floating IP address and port of the DB instance, perform the following steps: Log in to the RDS console. Select the region in which the DB instance is located. Click the target DB instance to enter the Basic Information page. In the Connection Information area, view the floating IP address.
Port	Indicates the private network port of the DB instance.
User	Indicates the name of the user who will access the DB instance. The default user is root.
Password	Indicates the password of the RDS database account.

In the displayed window, select the connection that you have created in 3 and click Open. If the connection information is correct, the DB instance is successfully connected.

Figure 3 Opening a session

If the connection fails, see What Should I Do If an ECS Cannot Connect to an RDS DB Instance?