How do I create a read replica for an Amazon Aurora MySQL DB cluster?

Short description

To create a read replica, create one of the following resources:

• An Aurora Replica to create an in-Region read replica and distribute read operations across the Region.
• A cross-Region read replica to replicate your data to a cluster in another Region and scale operations across Regions.
• A global database on Amazon Aurora Global Database to set up Aurora DB clusters that span multiple Regions.

You can also set up your own binary log replication environment where Aurora is the source or the target.

Resolution

Note: If you receive errors when you run AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) commands, then see Troubleshooting errors for the AWS CLI. Also, make sure that you're using the most recent AWS CLI version.

Create an in-Region read replica

Use the Aurora and RDS console or the AWS CLI to create an in-Region read replica.

Important: If you create an Aurora MySQL-Compatible 5.7 replica cluster, then that cluster is automatically enrolled into Amazon RDS Extended Support. To avoid additional charges, upgrade your DB cluster to Aurora MySQL version 3 with MySQL 8.0 compatibility.

Create a cross-Region read replica

Before you create a cross-Region read replica, activate binary logging for your source Aurora MySQL DB cluster. Then, use the Aurora and RDS console or the AWS CLI to create a cross-Region DB cluster.

Note: If you have an encrypted Aurora DB cluster, then you must create an encrypted Aurora Replica. If you have an unencrypted Aurora DB cluster, then you must create an unencrypted Aurora replica. You also can't create a cross-Region read replica that results in chain replication. So, you can't use an Aurora MySQL cluster that already has a replica of an Amazon RDS for MySQL or Aurora MySQL DB cluster.

Create an Aurora global database

To create an Aurora global database, use the Aurora and RDS console or the AWS CLI to add a Region to the Aurora DB cluster.

Note: You must select a Region that's doesn't already have a secondary Aurora DB cluster in the same Aurora global database. Also, you can't choose the primary Aurora DB cluster's Region.