Access Live MySQL Data in AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is a compute service that lets you build applications that respond quickly to new information and events. AWS Lambda functions can work with live MySQL data when paired with the CData JDBC Driver for MySQL. This article describes how to connect to and query MySQL data from an AWS Lambda function built in Eclipse.

At the time this article was written (June 2022), Eclipse version 2019-12 and Java 8 were the highest versions supported by the AWS Toolkit for Eclipse.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live MySQL data. When you issue complex SQL queries to MySQL, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to MySQL and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). In addition, its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze MySQL data using native data types.

Gather Connection Properties and Build a Connection String

The CData Provider supports connecting to on-premises and cloud-hosted versions of MySQL such as Amazon RDS for MySQL, Google Cloud SQL for MySQL, Azure Database for MySQL, or Oracle MySQL HeatWave. The Server and Port properties must be set to a MySQL server. If IntegratedSecurity is set to false, then User and Password must be set to valid user credentials. Optionally, Database can be set to connect to a specific database. If not set, tables from all databases will be returned.

SSH Connectivity for MySQL

You can use SSH (Secure Shell) to authenticate with MySQL, whether the instance is hosted on-premises or in supported cloud environments. SSH authentication ensures that access is encrypted (as compared to direct network connections).

SSH Connections to MySQL in Password Auth Mode

To connect to MySQL via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:

• User: MySQL User name
• Password: MySQL Password
• Database: MySQL database name
• Server: MySQL Server name
• Port: MySQL port number like 3306
• UserSSH: "true"
• SSHAuthMode: "Password"
• SSHPort: SSH Port number
• SSHServer: SSH Server name
• SSHUser: SSH User name
• SSHPassword: SSH Password

SSH Connections to MySQL in Public Key Auth Mode

To connect to MySQL via SSH in Password Auth mode, set the following connection properties:

• User: MySQL User name
• Password: MySQL Password
• Database: MySQL database name
• Server: MySQL Server name
• Port: MySQL port number like 3306
• UserSSH: "true"
• SSHAuthMode: "Public_Key"
• SSHPort: SSH Port number
• SSHServer: SSH Server name
• SSHUser: SSH User name
• SSHClientCret: the path for the public key certificate file

NOTE: To use the JDBC driver in an AWS Lambda function, you will need a license (full or trial) and a Runtime Key (RTK). For more information on obtaining this license (or a trial), contact our sales team.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the MySQL JDBC Driver. Double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.mysql.jar

👁 Using the built-in connection string designer to generate a JDBC URL (Salesforce is shown.)

Fill in the connection properties (including the RTK) and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Create an AWS Lambda Function

1. Download the CData JDBC Driver for MySQL installer, unzip the package, and run the JAR file to install the driver.

2. Create a new AWS Lambda Java Project in Eclipse using the AWS Toolkit for Eclipse. You can follow the tutorial from AWS (amazon.com).

   For this article, set the Input Type for the project to "Custom" so we can enter a table name as the input.

   👁 Creating a new AWS Lambda Java project
   
3. Add the CData JDBC Driver for MySQL JAR file (cdata.jdbc.mysql.jar) to the build path. The file is found in INSTALL_PATH\lib\. 👁 Adding the JDBC Driver JAR file
   
4. Add the following import statements to the Java class:

   import java.sql.Connection;
   import java.sql.DriverManager;
   import java.sql.ResultSet;
   import java.sql.ResultSetMetaData;
   import java.sql.SQLException;
   import java.sql.Statement;
   

5. Replace the body of the handleRequest method with the code below. Be sure to fill in the connection string in the DriverManager.getConnection method call.

   String query = "SELECT * FROM " + input;
   
   try {
   	Class.forName("cdata.jdbc.mysql.MySQLDriver");
   } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
   	context.getLogger().log("Error: class not found");
   }
   
   Connection connection = null;
    
   try {
   	connection = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:cdata:mysql:RTK=52465...;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;Database=NorthWind;Server=myServer;Port=3306;");
   } catch (SQLException ex) {
   	context.getLogger().log("Error getting connection: " + ex.getMessage());
   } catch (Exception ex) {
   	context.getLogger().log("Error: " + ex.getMessage());
   }
    
   if(connection != null)
   {
   	context.getLogger().log("Connected Successfully!\n");
   }
    
   ResultSet resultSet = null;
   try
   {
   	//executing query
   	Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
   	resultSet = stmt.executeQuery(query);
   
   	ResultSetMetaData metaData = resultSet.getMetaData();
   	int numCols = metaData.getColumnCount();
   
   	//printing the results
   	while(resultSet.next())
   	{
   		for(int i = 1; i <= numCols; i++)
   		{
   			System.out.printf("%-25s", (resultSet.getObject(i) != null) ? resultSet.getObject(i).toString().replaceAll("\n", "") : null );
   		}
   		System.out.print("\n");
   	}
   }
   catch (SQLException ex)
   {
   	System.out.println("SQL Exception: " + ex.getMessage());
   }
   catch (Exception ex)
   {
   	System.out.println("General exception: " + ex.getMessage());
   }
    
   String output = "query: " + query + " complete";
   return output;
   

Deploy and Run the Lambda Function

Once you build the function in Eclipse, you are ready to upload and run the function. In this article, the output is written to the AWS logs, but you can use this is a template to implement you own custom business logic to work with MySQL data in AWS Lambda functions.

1. Right-click the Package and select Amazon Web Services -> Upload function to AWS Lamba. 👁 Uploading the function to AWS Lambda
   
2. Name the function, select an IAM role, and set the timeout value to a high enough value to ensure the function completes (depending on the result size of your query).
3. Right-click the Package and select Amazon Web Services -> Run function on AWS Lambda and set the input to the name of the MySQL object you wish to query (i.e. "Orders"). 👁 Entering the table name as input
   
4. After the job runs, you can view the output in the CloudWatch logs. 👁 The data in AWS CloudWatch (Salesforce is shown).
   

Free Trial & More Information

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData JDBC Driver for MySQL and start working with your live MySQL data in AWS Lambda. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.