Can AWX Operator use Aurora Serverless v2 as its database?

Get Help
, , , ,
1

Description of the Issue

I am currently using AWX Operator 2.10.0, which, by default, provisions a PostgreSQL 13 database running as a StatefulSet within Kubernetes. This database is automatically managed by the AWX Operator’s control manager.

Environment Details

  • AWX Operator Version: 2.10.0
  • PostgreSQL Version: 13 (default, running as a StatefulSet)
  • Kubernetes Platform: AWS EKS
  • Current DB Setup: PostgreSQL 13, managed by AWX Operator
  • Planned Change: Migrating to an external database (AWS Aurora PostgreSQL)

Issue / Question

To improve redundancy, I understand that migrating to an external database is required.
We are considering migrating to AWS Aurora PostgreSQL and exploring the possibility of using Aurora Serverless v2 instead of a provisioned instance.
According to AWS documentation, Aurora Serverless v2 is available:
:link: Aurora Serverless v2 Documentation

Can Aurora Serverless v2 be used as the database for AWX Operator?
Are there any known success cases, limitations, or official support statements regarding this setup?

Steps to Reproduce / Test Plan

We plan to:

  1. Create an Aurora Serverless v2 cluster.
  2. Configure AWX Operator to use the Aurora database endpoint in place of the default PostgreSQL instance.
  3. Run AWX tasks and monitor behavior to ensure compatibility and stability.

Additional Concerns

  • Since Aurora Serverless v2 operates within a VPC, will AWX Operator be able to connect without issues?
  • Will AWX jobs experience delays due to Aurora’s auto-scaling behavior (e.g., during scale-up events)?
  • Are there any known limitations when using Aurora Serverless v2 as AWX’s database?

If anyone has experience running AWX Operator with Aurora Serverless v2, we would greatly appreciate any insights.
Thank you!

2

Disclaimer: The following steps describe what worked in our specific environment and are provided for reference only. Make sure to validate everything in your own setup before applying.

Solution & Migration Notes (Closing Issue)

Short answer: Yes—AWX Operator works fine with Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Serverless v2.
We have completed the migration from the in-cluster PostgreSQL 13 StatefulSet to Aurora Serverless v2 in production with no functional or performance regressions.

References used

Step-by-step migration

  1. Provision Aurora Serverless v2

    # (excerpt) CloudFormation stack
DBClusterIdentifier: awx-cluster
Engine: aurora-postgresql
EngineMode: serverless
ServerlessV2ScalingConfiguration:
  MinCapacity: 2
  MaxCapacity: 8

  2. Dump the in-cluster database

# inside the running postgres-13 pod
pg_dump -Fc awx > /tmp/awx.dump
  1. Restore into Aurora
pg_restore -h <aurora-endpoint> -U awx -d awx -Fc /tmp/awx.dump

4.Sanity check (example):*

SELECT * FROM main_jobevent_20250402_01 LIMIT 10;
  1. Create a Secret with Aurora connection details

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: awx-operator-postgres-configuration
type: Opaque
stringData:
  host: aurora-cluster.cluster-xxxxxxxxxx.ap-northeast-1.rds.amazonaws.com
  port: "5432"
  database: awx
  username: awx
  password: "<strong-password>"
  1. Point AWX Operator at the new Secret
spec:
  postgres_configuration_secret: awx-operator-postgres-configuration

7.Apply → the AWX web & task pods perform a rolling update and reconnect to Aurora.*
8. Validate

  • Run a few inventories / playbooks → OK
  • Monitor Aurora metrics (CommitLatency, QueryLatency) → no spikes during ACU scaling events
  1. Clean up in-cluster PostgreSQL
kubectl delete statefulset awx-postgres-13 -n awx
kubectl delete pvc -l app.kubernetes.io/name=postgresql -n awx