Infrastructure Access AWS RDS IAM Connect

AWS now supports IAM database authentication for RDS, letting you connect without storing static passwords. This method verifies users through AWS IAM and issues temporary authentication tokens. Tokens last 15 minutes, forcing short-lived access and reducing attack windows.

To set it up, enable IAM DB authentication in the RDS instance settings. Create or update an IAM policy to allow rds-db:connect for the target database resource. Assign that policy to the user or role. In the client, use the AWS CLI to generate a signed token for the specific DB instance. Replace the password in the connection string with this token. The database engine—MySQL or PostgreSQL—validates the signature through AWS and grants access.

This approach unifies infrastructure access control. You manage permissions in IAM instead of juggling secrets in separate vaults. Every connection is tied to an AWS identity, making it easy to audit and revoke. It scales cleanly from a single engineer’s laptop to automated pipelines in CI/CD.

Security teams gain centralized visibility. Developers gain frictionless logins that match their cloud credentials. Ops teams gain an auditable path that shuts down the risk of leaked database passwords. All of it runs natively inside AWS without third-party auth layers.

Stop fighting static credentials. Use Infrastructure Access AWS RDS IAM Connect to merge authentication into the same control plane that runs the rest of your cloud.

Want to see this infrastructure access model in action? Build it on hoop.dev and connect to AWS RDS with IAM in minutes.