AWS ODBC Drivers

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AWS provides ODBC drivers for PostgreSQL and MySQL with AWS-specific features for Amazon Aurora and RDS databases.

AWS PostgreSQL ODBC Driver

Latest Version: 1.0.0
Repository: github.com/aws/aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper

Prerequisites

Before installing the AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper, you must install:

UnixODBC (for Mac/Linux)
An underlying ODBC driver: psqlODBC PostgreSQL ODBC Driver

Installation

Windows:

Download the .msi installer from the releases page
Execute the installer and follow onscreen instructions
Two wrappers will be installed:
- AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Ansi
- AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Unicode

macOS (Silicon chips only):

# Download and extract
wget https://github.com/aws/aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper/releases/download/1.0.0/aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-1.0.0-macos-arm64.zip
unzip aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-1.0.0-macos-arm64.zip

# Bypass Gatekeeper
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /path/to/the/wrapper/

# Optional: Verify checksums
shasum -a 256 aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-a.dylib
shasum -a 256 aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-w.dylib

Linux:

# Download and extract
wget https://github.com/aws/aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper/releases/download/1.0.0/aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-1.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
tar -xzf aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-1.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz

# Optional: Verify checksums
sha256sum aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-a.so
sha256sum aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-w.so

Configuration (Linux/macOS)

Create or modify odbcinst.ini:

[ODBC Drivers]
AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Ansi      = Installed
AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Unicode   = Installed

[AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Ansi]
Driver = /path/to/aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-a.dylib  # or .so for Linux

[AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Unicode]
Driver = /path/to/aws-advanced-odbc-wrapper-w.dylib  # or .so for Linux

Create or modify odbc.ini:

[ODBC Data Sources]
aws-odbc-wrapper-a = AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Ansi
aws-odbc-wrapper-w = AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Unicode

[aws-odbc-wrapper-a]
Driver          = AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Ansi
SERVER          = cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com
DATABASE        = mydb
BASE_DRIVER     = /path/to/psqlodbca.dylib  # or .so for Linux

[aws-odbc-wrapper-w]
Driver          = AWS Advanced ODBC Wrapper Unicode
SERVER          = cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com
DATABASE        = mydb
BASE_DRIVER     = /path/to/psqlodbcw.dylib  # or .so for Linux

Connection String

DRIVER={Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver};SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;PORT=5432;DATABASE=mydb;UID=username;PWD=password;enableClusterFailover=true

Key Features

Failover Support: Automatic failover for Aurora PostgreSQL clusters
IAM Authentication: AWS IAM database authentication
Enhanced Monitoring: Connection health tracking
SSL/TLS Support: Secure connections to RDS/Aurora

Configuration Options

enableClusterFailover=true - Enable Aurora cluster failover
failoverTimeoutMs=60000 - Failover timeout in milliseconds
enableIAM=true - Enable IAM authentication
sslMode=require - SSL connection mode

AWS MySQL ODBC Driver

Latest Version: 1.1.0
Repository: github.com/aws/aws-mysql-odbc

Installation

Windows: Download and run the MSI installer from the releases page.

macOS:

brew install aws-mysql-odbc

Linux:

# Download the appropriate package for your distribution
wget https://github.com/aws/aws-mysql-odbc/releases/download/1.1.0/aws-mysql-odbc-1.1.0.tar.gz
tar -xzf aws-mysql-odbc-1.1.0.tar.gz
cd aws-mysql-odbc-1.1.0
./configure
make
sudo make install

Connection String

DRIVER={Amazon MySQL ODBC Driver};SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;PORT=3306;DATABASE=mydb;USER=username;PASSWORD=password;enableClusterFailover=true

Key Features

Failover Support: Automatic failover for Aurora MySQL clusters
IAM Authentication: AWS IAM database authentication
Enhanced Monitoring: Connection health tracking
SSL/TLS Support: Secure connections to RDS/Aurora

Configuration Options

enableClusterFailover=true - Enable Aurora cluster failover
failoverTimeoutMs=60000 - Failover timeout in milliseconds
enableIAM=true - Enable IAM authentication
sslMode=REQUIRED - SSL connection mode
enableIAM=true - Enable IAM authentication
sslMode=require - SSL connection mode

Common Configurations

Basic Failover (PostgreSQL)

DRIVER={Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver};
SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;
PORT=5432;
DATABASE=mydb;
UID=username;
PWD=password;
enableClusterFailover=true;
failoverTimeoutMs=60000

Basic Failover (MySQL)

DRIVER={Amazon MySQL ODBC Driver};
SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;
PORT=3306;
DATABASE=mydb;
USER=username;
PASSWORD=password;
enableClusterFailover=true;
failoverTimeoutMs=60000

IAM Authentication (PostgreSQL)

DRIVER={Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver};
SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;
PORT=5432;
DATABASE=mydb;
UID=iamuser;
enableClusterFailover=true;
enableIAM=true;
region=us-east-1

IAM Authentication (MySQL)

DRIVER={Amazon MySQL ODBC Driver};
SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;
PORT=3306;
DATABASE=mydb;
USER=iamuser;
enableClusterFailover=true;
enableIAM=true;
region=us-east-1

Using with Applications

Python (pyodbc)

import pyodbc

conn_str = (
    "DRIVER={Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver};"
    "SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;"
    "PORT=5432;"
    "DATABASE=mydb;"
    "UID=username;"
    "PWD=password;"
    "enableClusterFailover=true"
)

conn = pyodbc.connect(conn_str)
cursor = conn.cursor()
cursor.execute("SELECT 1")
result = cursor.fetchone()
conn.close()

C/C++

#include <sql.h>
#include <sqlext.h>

SQLHENV env;
SQLHDBC dbc;
SQLHSTMT stmt;

SQLAllocHandle(SQL_HANDLE_ENV, SQL_NULL_HANDLE, &env);
SQLSetEnvAttr(env, SQL_ATTR_ODBC_VERSION, (void*)SQL_OV_ODBC3, 0);
SQLAllocHandle(SQL_HANDLE_DBC, env, &dbc);

SQLCHAR connStr[] = "DRIVER={Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver};"
                    "SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;"
                    "PORT=5432;DATABASE=mydb;UID=username;PWD=password;"
                    "enableClusterFailover=true";

SQLDriverConnect(dbc, NULL, connStr, SQL_NTS, NULL, 0, NULL, SQL_DRIVER_NOPROMPT);
SQLAllocHandle(SQL_HANDLE_STMT, dbc, &stmt);

// Execute queries
SQLExecDirect(stmt, (SQLCHAR*)"SELECT 1", SQL_NTS);

// Cleanup
SQLFreeHandle(SQL_HANDLE_STMT, stmt);
SQLDisconnect(dbc);
SQLFreeHandle(SQL_HANDLE_DBC, dbc);
SQLFreeHandle(SQL_HANDLE_ENV, env);

.NET (System.Data.Odbc)

using System.Data.Odbc;

string connStr = "DRIVER={Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver};" +
                 "SERVER=cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com;" +
                 "PORT=5432;DATABASE=mydb;UID=username;PWD=password;" +
                 "enableClusterFailover=true";

using var conn = new OdbcConnection(connStr);
conn.Open();

using var cmd = conn.CreateCommand();
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT 1";
var result = cmd.ExecuteScalar();

DSN Configuration

Windows

Open ODBC Data Source Administrator
Click “Add” under System DSN or User DSN
Select “Amazon MySQL ODBC Driver” or “Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver”
Configure connection parameters
Test connection

Linux/macOS

Edit /etc/odbc.ini or ~/.odbc.ini:

[MyAuroraDB]
Driver = Amazon PostgreSQL ODBC Driver
Server = cluster.region.rds.amazonaws.com
Port = 5432
Database = mydb
enableClusterFailover = true
failoverTimeoutMs = 60000

Connect using DSN:

DSN=MyAuroraDB;UID=username;PWD=password

Troubleshooting

Driver Not Found

Ensure the driver is properly installed and registered:

Windows: Check ODBC Data Source Administrator

Linux/macOS: Check /etc/odbcinst.ini:

cat /etc/odbcinst.ini

Connection Timeout

Increase failoverTimeoutMs or check network connectivity:

failoverTimeoutMs=120000

IAM Authentication Issues

Verify:

AWS credentials are configured
IAM user has rds-db:connect permission
Database user is configured for IAM authentication

AWS Advanced Drivers

AWS ODBC Drivers

AWS PostgreSQL ODBC Driver

Prerequisites

Installation

Configuration (Linux/macOS)

Connection String

Key Features

Configuration Options

AWS MySQL ODBC Driver

Installation

Connection String

Key Features

Configuration Options

Common Configurations

Basic Failover (PostgreSQL)

Basic Failover (MySQL)

IAM Authentication (PostgreSQL)

IAM Authentication (MySQL)

Using with Applications

Python (pyodbc)

C/C++

.NET (System.Data.Odbc)

DSN Configuration

Windows

Linux/macOS

Troubleshooting

Driver Not Found

Connection Timeout

IAM Authentication Issues

Resources