Trying to delete a RDS public snapshot

Question

I am trying to delete RDS snapshot's left behind by my development team who are no longer on the project as it is completed fuly, however I am getting the message;

Cannot delete snapshot

To delete a shared or public snapshot, you must use the log into the AWS account that owns the snapshot.

Can you please assist as this is costing me money unnecessarily.

Answer

Hi,

A RDS snapshot can be taken on a database in a given account and be shared with other accounts. They can use it to restore a clone of the initial database from their own account.  See https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_ShareSnapshot.html

So, in your case, the snapshot what created in a different account and share with the account from which you are trying to delete it. But, you can only delete it from the account who created. So, go to this account and delete the snapshot (or ask the account admin to do it for you).

To know the owner of your snapshot, use `aws rds describe-db-snapshots` with option  `--snapshot-type shared`. See https://awscli.amazonaws.com/v2/documentation/api/latest/reference/rds/describe-db-snapshots.html

Best,

Didier

Trying to delete a RDS public snapshot

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