To get started connecting to a remote AWS RDS MySQL/Aurora database please download MySQL WorkBench and install the program. In this guide you will be connecting to a AWS hosted RDS Database server running MySQL/Aurora behind a bastion server. A bastion host is a server whose purpose is to provide access to a private network from an external network, such as the Internet.
Launch Workbench and select add MySQL Connections.
Set the following fields:
-Connection Name: Any descriptive name for this new database connection
-Connection Method: Should be Standard TCP/IP over SSH
-SSH Hostname: This should be the ip address or hostname of the bastion server including the port number which is normally :22
-SSH Username: The user name you are connecting to the bastion server as via ssh key based authentication.
-SSH Password: This section can be skipped in favor of the SSH key file configuration.
-SSH Key File: Add the private key file for your ssh based access. This file should be in pem format, not the windows putty (.ppk) format.
-MySQL Hostname: Enter the host name or ip address of the remote database server. In this case it is an RDS database writer endpoint for Aurora.
-MySQL Server Port: The default is 3306.
-Database Username: This should be whatever the user name is to access your database instance.
-Database Password: Select store in vault and enter the MySQL/Aurora database password.
Select Test Connection. If connection is successful, close and connect to your newly saved connection.