Generated banner for Connecting To Data Source
Generated logo for Connecting To Data Source

Connecting To Data Source

AWSOfficialPublished by AWS

  • Skill
  • Tool integration
  • Cloud and DevOps
  • Apache-2.0
  • No issues found

From the author

Create and troubleshoot AWS Glue connections to JDBC databases (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, RDS), Redshift, Snowflake, and BigQuery. Gathers connection hints from user, discovers existing connections and RDS/Redshift candidates, registers credentials in Secrets Manager or IAM DB auth, configures VPC, and tests. Triggers on: connect to database, set up Glue connection, register data source, connect to Snowflake/BigQuery/RDS, connection timeout, test connection, troubleshoot connection. Do NOT use for moving data (use ingesting-into-data-lake), creating tables (use creating-data-lake-table), queries (use querying-data-lake), catalog exploration (use exploring-data-catalog), or SaaS (Salesforce, ServiceNow, SAP, MongoDB, Kafka).
— the description by AWS

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured workflow for registering external data sources with AWS Glue. It handles the creation of Glue connections, which act as reusable network and credential configurations for ETL jobs. The process includes discovering existing resources, setting up secure credential storage via AWS Secrets Manager or IAM database authentication, configuring VPC network requirements, and performing end-to-end connectivity testing to ensure the connection is ready for production use.

What it does

  • Discovers existing RDS, Redshift, and Glue connection configurations.
  • Registers database credentials securely using AWS Secrets Manager or IAM DB authentication.
  • Configures VPC, subnet, and security group requirements for private data sources.
  • Creates Glue connection objects for JDBC databases, Redshift, Snowflake, and BigQuery.
  • Performs multi-phase connectivity testing including API checks and engine-level smoke tests.
  • Provides diagnostic steps for common network, credential, and driver-related connection failures.

When to use it

  • When you need to establish a new connection between AWS Glue and an external database or warehouse.
  • When you need to troubleshoot an existing Glue connection that is failing during ETL jobs.
  • When you are setting up a new data source for use with Glue ETL or Athena federated queries.
  • When you need to migrate from plaintext credentials to secure AWS Secrets Manager or IAM-based auth.

Advantages

  • Ensures secure credential handling by prioritizing Secrets Manager and IAM over plaintext.
  • Validates network and authentication settings before they are used in production jobs.
  • Reduces configuration errors by providing source-specific setup patterns.
  • Provides a clear, repeatable process for managing data source connectivity across environments.

Usage examples

“Set up a new Glue connection for my PostgreSQL RDS instance.”
The agent will guide you through identifying the RDS instance, configuring the VPC settings, setting up IAM DB authentication or a secret, and running a test connection.
“I need to connect Glue to Snowflake.”
The agent will prompt for your Snowflake account details, warehouse, and role, then create a native SNOWFLAKE-type Glue connection and verify it.
“Troubleshoot my Glue connection 'oracle-prod-sales' which is timing out.”
The agent will check your VPC routing, security group rules, and S3 VPC endpoints to diagnose the connectivity issue.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/aws/connecting-to-data-source/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip connecting-to-data-source.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by AWS

Connect to Data Source

Register an external data source with AWS Glue so downstream skills (ingesting-into-data-lake) can move data from it. A Glue connection stores the network config, driver, and credential reference for one source. Create once per source, reuse across jobs.

Philosophy

A connection is a named pipe, not a pipeline. This skill produces a tested, reusable Glue connection. It does not move data.

Common Tasks

You MUST execute commands using AWS MCP server tools when connected -- they provide validation, sandboxed execution, and audit logging. Fall back to AWS CLI only if MCP is unavailable. You MUST explain each step before executing.

Workflow

1. Verify Dependencies and Context
  • You MUST check whether AWS MCP tools or AWS CLI are available and inform the user if missing

  • You MUST confirm target AWS region and verify credentials with aws sts get-caller-identity

2. Classify the Source

Ask the user which source type they want to connect to, or infer from hints:

User says...Source typeConnection typeReference
"Oracle", "SQL Server", "Postgres", "MySQL", "RDS <engine>"JDBC databaseJDBCjdbc-setup.md
"Redshift", "my cluster", "my data warehouse on AWS"RedshiftJDBCjdbc-setup.md (Redshift section)
"Snowflake"SnowflakeSNOWFLAKEsnowflake-setup.md
"BigQuery", "Google analytics warehouse"BigQueryBIGQUERYbigquery-setup.md

If the user names DynamoDB or a local file, stop and tell them: DynamoDB is read directly by Glue without a connection, and local files belong in the ingesting-into-data-lake skill's local-upload workflow.

3. Gather Connection Hints from the User

You MUST ask for hints the user can provide -- do not guess.

For all sources:

  • Desired connection name (lowercase, hyphens: oracle-prod-sales, snowflake-analytics)

  • Existing Secrets Manager secret, or create one

  • Is source reachable from a Glue VPC (same, peered, VPN, Direct Connect)

JDBC: hostname/endpoint, port, database, whether RDS/Aurora/self-managed, IAM DB auth enabled (Aurora/RDS MySQL/Postgres), SSL required.

Snowflake: account identifier, warehouse, role, default database, auth (password, key-pair, OAuth).

BigQuery: GCP project ID, location, whether service account JSON is provisioned.

4. Discover Existing Connections and Candidate Sources

Check what exists before creating.

Existing Glue connections:

aws glue get-connections --filter ConnectionType=<TYPE> --region <REGION>

If a suitable one exists, confirm and skip to Step 7.

Candidate sources in account (JDBC/Redshift only):

  • RDS: aws rds describe-db-instances

  • Aurora: aws rds describe-db-clusters

  • Redshift: aws redshift describe-clusters

Present candidates to user; let them pick. See discovery.md.

5. Register Credentials

You MUST encourage AWS Secrets Manager over plaintext passwords. You SHOULD prefer IAM database authentication where supported (Aurora/RDS MySQL and PostgreSQL, Redshift). See credential-security.md.

  • You MUST confirm with user before creating a new Secrets Manager secret

  • You MUST NOT write plaintext credentials into chat or logs

  • For IAM DB auth, no secret is needed

6. Create the Glue Connection

Follow the source-specific reference for connection properties:

aws glue create-connection --connection-input '<JSON>' --region <REGION>

Private sources require PhysicalConnectionRequirements (SubnetId, SecurityGroupIdList, AvailabilityZone). See network-setup.md.

7. Test the Connection

You MUST test before handing off. Testing is two-phase: a quick API check, then an engine-level verification.

Phase A: Glue TestConnection (network and credential sanity check)
aws glue test-connection --connection-name <NAME> --region <REGION>

This validates that Glue can reach the source and authenticate. It does NOT prove the connection works end-to-end with the query engine the user plans to use.

Phase B: Engine-level verification

After TestConnection passes, verify the connection works with the user's intended engine by running a minimal query through it:

  • Glue ETL (default): Run a smoke-test Glue job that reads one row via the connection. See troubleshooting.md.

  • Athena: If the user plans to query via Athena with a federated connector, run a SELECT 1 through the Athena connection to confirm the Lambda-based connector can reach the source.

  • Glue Crawler: If the user plans to crawl the source, run a test crawl on a single table.

Phase B catches issues that TestConnection misses: driver compatibility at job runtime, catalog configuration, Spark-level serialization, and engine-specific auth flows (e.g., Snowflake SNOWFLAKE type works in ETL but not via JDBC crawlers).

On success in both phases, tell user the connection name is ready for ingesting-into-data-lake. On failure in either phase, Step 8.

8. Troubleshoot (only if test failed)

Diagnose in order: network, credentials, driver. See troubleshooting.md.

Constraints:

  • You MUST check VPC routing, security groups, and S3 VPC endpoint before blaming credentials

  • You MUST verify Glue role can read the Secrets Manager secret

  • You MUST NOT rotate credentials without user confirmation

Argument Routing

  • No args: Walk through Steps 1-7 interactively

  • Source type keyword (e.g., snowflake, oracle): Skip to Step 2 with the type prefilled

  • Existing connection name: Skip to Step 7 (test) then Step 8 if failing

  • Hostname or RDS endpoint: Skip to Step 4 with the candidate prefilled

Gotchas

  • Glue's SNOWFLAKE connection type is distinct from JDBC configured for Snowflake. You MUST use SNOWFLAKE for Spark ETL jobs; do not use JDBC.

  • Connection names are immutable. Choose carefully.

  • PhysicalConnectionRequirements.AvailabilityZone MUST match the subnet's AZ or the connection fails at job runtime, not creation time.

  • IAM database authentication tokens expire in 15 minutes. The Glue job generates a fresh token on each connection; do not cache.

  • An S3 VPC gateway endpoint MUST exist in the VPC used by private-source connections. Without it, Glue jobs cannot read their scripts or write results to S3.

Troubleshooting

ErrorLikely causeFix
Connect timed outVPC routing, SG rule, or NAT gateway missingSee troubleshooting.md
Access denied for user / ORA-01017Credentials wrong, Secrets Manager access missing, or IAM DB auth misconfiguredSee troubleshooting.md
No suitable driver foundCustom driver JAR not set or wrong class nameSee troubleshooting.md
SSL handshake failedJDBC_ENFORCE_SSL mismatch between Glue and sourceSee troubleshooting.md
UnableToFindVpcEndpointS3 VPC endpoint missingCreate S3 gateway endpoint in the connection's VPC

References

Files

LICENSE


                                 Apache License
                           Version 2.0, January 2004
                        http://www.apache.org/licenses/

   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION

   1. Definitions.

      "License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
      and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.

      "Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
      the copyright owner that is granting the License.

      "Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
      other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
      control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
      "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
      direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
      otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
      outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.

      "You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
      exercising permissions granted by this License.

      "Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
      including but not limited to software source code, documentation
      source, and configuration files.

      "Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
      transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
      not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
      and conversions to other media types.

      "Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
      Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
      copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
      (an example is provided in the Appendix below).

      "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
      form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
      editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
      represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
      of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
      separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
      the Work and Derivative Works thereof.

      "Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
      the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
      to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
      submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
      or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
      the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
      means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
      to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
      communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
      and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
      Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
      excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
      designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."

      "Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
      on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
      subsequently incorporated within the Work.

   2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
      copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
      publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
      Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.

   3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
      (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
      use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
      where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
      by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
      Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
      with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
      institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
      cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
      or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
      or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
      granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
      as of the date such litigation is filed.

   4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
      Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
      modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
      meet the following conditions:

      (a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
          Derivative Works a copy of this License; and

      (b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
          stating that You changed the files; and

      (c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
          that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
          attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
          excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
          the Derivative Works; and

      (d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
          distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
          include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
          within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
          pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
          of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
          as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
          documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
          within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
          wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
          of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
          do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
          notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
          or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
          that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
          as modifying the License.

      You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
      may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
      for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
      for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
      reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
      the conditions stated in this License.

   5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
      any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
      by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
      this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
      Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
      the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
      with Licensor regarding such Contributions.

   6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
      names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
      except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
      origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.

   7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
      agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
      Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
      implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
      of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
      PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
      appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
      risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.

   8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
      whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
      unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
      negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
      liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
      incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
      result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
      Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
      work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
      other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
      has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

   9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
      the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
      and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
      or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
      License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
      on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
      of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
      defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
      incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
      of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs an MCP server, Needs a command-line tool

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by
AWS
Publisher
AWS (Official)
Source
aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws · plugins/aws-data-analytics/skills/connecting-to-data-source · commit 0a218f8
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • NOTICE (added by AutoGineer from NOTICE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced
Also distributed in
aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by AWS or AWS.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download connecting-to-data-source.zip