Import RDS Instance from Account B to Account using cdk import

Question

I have an RDS Instance in Account B and I want to import an RDS instance to a Stack I have created in Account A , I followed this Article guide 
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/devops/how-to-import-existing-resources-into-aws-cdk-stacks/ using cdk import 
and as i understood , I just put in my CDK code something like

`new s3.Bucket(this, 'ImportedS3Bucket', {})`

but in my case i want to import an RDS instance , but whenever I add the following block of code

`new rds.DatabaseInstance(this, 'ImportedRDS', {
     
 })`

It need me to pass further properties unlike using former Block of code using S3

**My questions :**

1- Does every resource I want to import differs in the properties that i need to pass ? like for S3 bucket I needn't to pass any property unlike the RDS import in the second block of code ?

2- Is it valid to import an RDS instance from another account i.e. Account B to a stack which is in Account A ? if is it valid , is it the best approach ? also, do I get billed twice ? one for the RDS which is in Account B and one for the Imported one into Account A.

Antonio_Lagrotteria · Answer

As mentioned here: https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/blob/v1-main/packages/aws-cdk/README.md#cdk-import

> You must also make sure to exactly model the state that the resource currently has. For the example of the Bucket, be sure to include KMS keys, life cycle policies, and anything else that's relevant about the bucket. If you do not, subsequent update operations may not do what you expect

So in your case, as the s3 construct may default to certain properties if not specified, the same may apply for rds.

I would suggest you to be explicit and define properties based on the construct: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/api/v2/docs/aws-cdk-lib.aws_rds.DatabaseInstance.html to avoid any surprise

Mahmoud · Answer

Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Import RDS Instance from Account B to Account using cdk import

Is it valid to import an RDS instance from another account (Account B) to a stack in Account A?

Is it the best approach?

Do I get billed twice, one for the RDS in Account B and one for the imported one into Account A?

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