Is it possible to back up RDS snapshots in AWS Backup?

Question

I want to create backups of some AWS RDS snapshots that are generated with a specific label I assign to each snapshot. By doing this, I can delete the snapshots and have backups solely in AWS Backup, which can then be used in any region when restored. Is this possible? Additionally, is there a way to set a lifecycle for snapshots, for example, having them automatically deleted every 30 days without using Lambda functions?

Accepted Answer

Hi Delaney,
AWS Backup does support RDS [1].
Furthermore, AWS Backup supports Aurora Snapshots see "Feature availability by resource" [2].
I see in the tag you mentioned Aurora MySQL, therefore it should be supported.

You can use Tag-Based Backup Policies: AWS Backup allows you to create backup plans based on resource tags. This means you can tag your RDS snapshots with a specific label (or tag) and then configure AWS Backup to automatically back up resources with that specific tag. This ensures only the snapshots with the desired label are backed up. [3]

One example of how to implement:
1. Tag your RDS snapshots with the desired label.
2. In the AWS Backup console, create a backup plan.
3. In the backup plan, specify the resource tag as a condition for backup selection.
4. AWS Backup will then automatically back up the RDS snapshots with the specified tag.

Now to solve the second part of your problem, lifecycle snapshots[4]:
1. In the AWS Backup console, when creating or editing a backup plan, specify the lifecycle settings.
2. Set the retention period to 30 days.
3. AWS Backup will automatically delete backups after the 30-day retention period.

If my answer is helpful please accept the answer, if you have any other questions, please let me know! 
- Dylan

1. https://aws.amazon.com/backup/features/
2. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/whatisbackup.html
3. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/assigning-resources.html
4. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/creating-a-backup-plan.html

Answer

If AWS Backup makes the snapshots (from DBs in your backup plan) then it will manage the lifecycle of them.  But you can't include snapshots that were produced in other ways under AWS Backup's management.   If you really need to manage the lifecycle of backups like these and you can't just just AWS Backup from the start, then one option may be to export snapshots to Parquet in S3 (if your DB engine & version is supported) and have lifecycle policies there.  These and other options are covered in detail here - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ensure-aws-rds-database-backups-remain-usable-steve-kinsman/.

Is it possible to back up RDS snapshots in AWS Backup?

Relevant content