SQL Server → AWS RDS for SQL Server

📚 Overview & Scope

This SOP covers a full copy (schema + data) from a SQL Server on-premises instance into an AWS RDS for SQL Server SE2 or EE instance using Endrias Bridge's row-copy mode. Because source and target are the same engine, the vast majority of types map 1:1. The key differences are RDS platform restrictions: no xp_cmdshell, no direct msdb writes, no FILESTREAM, and the reserved rdsadmin system database.

✓ Prerequisites — Source (SQL Server)

✓ Prerequisites — Target (AWS RDS for SQL Server)

RDS for SQL Server has platform restrictions that differ from on-premises. Review each requirement before starting the migration wizard.

Pre-create the target database via SSMS or the RDS query editor:

-- Run as a login with dbcreator or higher on the RDS instance
CREATE DATABASE [EndriasBridgeTarget];
GO

-- Map the migration login to a database user
USE [EndriasBridgeTarget];
GO
CREATE USER [MigrationUser] FOR LOGIN [MigrationUser];
EXEC sp_addrolemember 'db_owner', 'MigrationUser';
GO

Open Endrias Bridge, navigate to Migration Projects → New Project, and fill in both connection blocks. The target host is the RDS cluster endpoint — not the instance ARN.

Switch to the Assessment tab and click Run Assessment. The tool connects to the source, enumerates all tables and columns, and flags type conversions that will be applied.

Switch to the Migration tab. Click Load Tables from Source, confirm all tables are checked, then configure migration options.

Click Start Migration. The Migration Log updates in real time as each table's schema is created on the RDS target and rows are copied in batches. The same-engine path is fast — no column type coercions required for standard T-SQL types.

1. Click Verify Data Integrity — compares source vs. target row counts for every migrated table and logs any mismatches to the Migration Log.
2. Spot-check temporal tables: confirm that SysEnd rows stored as 9998-12-31 are present and match expected counts.
3. Click Export Report (enabled once migration finishes) to save an HTML/text summary of all tables, row counts, type conversions applied, and any warnings.

Row-copy mode migrates schema and data. The following post-migration steps are required to make the RDS database fully operational.

1. Update statistics

-- Run on the RDS target after migration completes
USE [EndriasBridgeTarget];
EXEC sp_updatestats;
GO

2. Recreate SQL Agent jobs — the standard system stored procedures work directly on RDS for SQL Server (confirmed against AWS's own RDS SQL Server Agent documentation); no RDS-specific proc names are needed. The easiest path is the built-in one: tick "Also migrate SQL Agent jobs, operators & alerts" on the Migrate tab before running the migration and this step is done automatically. To do it manually instead:

-- Standard sp_add_job / sp_add_jobstep / sp_add_schedule work as-is on RDS
USE msdb;
GO

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_add_job
    @job_name = N'YourJobName';

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep
    @job_name      = N'YourJobName',
    @step_id       = 1,
    @step_name     = N'Step1',
    @subsystem     = N'TSQL',
    @command       = N'EXEC dbo.YourProcedure;',
    @database_name = N'EndriasBridgeTarget';

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_add_schedule
    @schedule_name      = N'DailySchedule',
    @freq_type          = 4,   -- daily
    @freq_interval      = 1,
    @active_start_time  = 020000;  -- 02:00 AM

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_attach_schedule
    @job_name      = N'YourJobName',
    @schedule_name = N'DailySchedule';

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobserver
    @job_name = N'YourJobName';
GO

3. Verify SysEnd clamped rows

-- Confirm temporal "open" rows present with expected clamped value
-- 9999-12-31 is NOT stored — 9998-12-31 is correct and expected
SELECT COUNT(*) AS OpenRows
FROM [EndriasBridgeTarget].[dbo].[AuditLog]
WHERE SysEndTime = '9998-12-31 23:59:59.9999999';

⚠ Known Issues

📊 Type Conversions (SQL Server → RDS SQL Server)