What problem does it solve?
Connecting applications to Amazon RDS for SQL Server fails in predictable but hard-to-diagnose ways: SSMS timeouts from EC2, "Cannot generate SSPI context" with Windows auth, Kerberos silently falling back to NTLM on ECS Fargate, and Lambda functions timing out on pre-login handshakes. This Skill provides systematic troubleshooting workflows and correct driver configurations for each scenario.
Core Features & Use Cases
- Driver-specific connection guidance: Covers Python (pymssql, pyodbc), .NET (Microsoft.Data.SqlClient), Java (mssql-jdbc), and Node.js (tedious) with correct TLS, port, and TDS version settings.
- Authentication workflows: Walks through SQL auth with Secrets Manager rotation, Windows auth via AWS Managed Microsoft AD with SPN/CNAME setup, and IAM auth through RDS Proxy.
- Deployment patterns: Provides networking and credential configurations for EC2, ECS Fargate, Lambda in VPC, EKS, and laptop access via SSM port forwarding.
- Use Case: A developer's Lambda function using pymssql gets error 18456 and pre-login timeouts. The Skill supplies a complete handler with Secrets Manager credential caching at module scope,
encryption='require', tds_version='7.4', port passed as a string, and explicit exception handlers for both error conditions.
Quick Start
Ask the agent to help you connect your application to your RDS for SQL Server instance, specifying your language, runtime environment, and authentication method.
