Database migrations are hard. Even if you are doing a “simple” lift and shift, you can face many issues that have the potential to take days to resolve.

AWS offers multiple tools to help with this process: You can use the AWS Schema Conversion Tool (AWS SCT) to do an assessment and convert your schema. You can use AWS SCT agents to migrate your data from a variety of data warehouses into Amazon Redshift. And finally, you can use AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) to move data between a large number of relational and nonrelational sources and targets. Every month, the tools are getting more sophisticated, provide more options, and encompass a greater number of use cases. For example, just recently we added a Microsoft Azure connector to DMS, using which you can move data between Azure and AWS.

We always treat database migration projects as a development exercise. Each project should have proper planning (that is, design), execution, and of course testing. Each step involves developer collaboration. Developers also just like to collaborate on tools, methodologies, and a nice piece of code. We want to facilitate developer collaboration for migration projects, to bring more tools and methods to the community to allow better, smoother, and faster migrations.

As part of this effort, we recently launched two GitHub repositories, for AWS DMS samples and AWS DMS tools.

The first repository contains a database schema and associated objects for different database engines. We use this schema in our blog posts, step-by-step tutorials, and other activities. You can use these samples to practice migrations, train teams, and develop new training materials. We update these samples when new features are released to help demonstrate the new features. You are also welcome to contribute your own samples and methods to this repo, through the standard pull request process. (If you’re not familiar with this process, visit the GitHub documentation.)

In the second repository, we publish various tools and scripts to prepare migrations, improve assessments, analyze data, and perform other migration activities. This repo also hosts code snippets from our blogs and tutorials.

Both repositories are governed by the Apache 2.0 license. Both are organized by database engine, with engine-specific materials in appropriately named folders.

Ongoing, we plan to support standard pull requests for these repositories from the developer community. We also plan to merge interesting tools and technologies to help you migrate data. For every merged project you submit, we’ll send you some limited-edition AWS merchandise. We are waiting for your contributions!

About the Author

Ilia Gilderman is a senior software development manager for Database Migration Services at Amazon Web Services.