**AWX cannot connect to Aurora PostgreSQL 17 **.
Environment
AWX Operator Version: (add your version, e.g., 2.19.1)
AWX Version: 3.2.0
Kubernetes Version: v1.33
PostgreSQL: AWS Aurora PostgreSQL v17
Deployment: External DB (Aurora) + AWX on EKS
Description of the Issue
When deploying AWX with an external Aurora PostgreSQL 17 database on an EKS v1.33 cluster, AWX fails to establish a PostgreSQL connection.
Aurora receives invalid SSL packets, and AWX logs report certificate verification errors. As a result, AWX containers enter a crash loop and never complete initialization.
Steps to Reproduce
- Deploy Aurora PostgreSQL Compatible Edition v17.
- Deploy AWX Operator with a custom AWX CR referencing the Aurora endpoint.
- Observe AWX pods.
values.yaml
AWX:
# enable use of awx-deploy template
enabled: true
name: awx
spec:
admin_user: admin
# configurations for external postgres instance
postgres:
enabled: true
host: cid-poc1-awx-rds-.cluster-.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com
port: 5432
dbName: awx
username: ulKrPh2p8qrNBo4Q
# for secret management, pass in the password independently of this file
# at the command line, use --set AWX.postgres.password
password: Unset
sslmode: verify-full
type: unmanaged
rbac:
create: true
operator-controller: {}
operator-controller-containers: {}
Relevant Aurora DB Logs
2026-02-12 19:00:39 UTC:10.205.26.178(48258):[unknown]@[unknown]:[21050]:LOG:
could not accept SSL connection: BAD_PACKET_LENGTH
kubectl logs awx-web-7fcdbdf94f-w5q9h -n awx
Relevant AWX Pod Logs (awx-web)
The AWX application repeatedly fails with certificate errors:
psycopg.OperationalError: connection failed: certificate verify failed
django.db.utils.OperationalError: connection failed: certificate verify failed
AWX web container eventually enters FATAL state:
WARN exited: awx-cache-clear (exit status 1; not expected)
...
gave up: awx-cache-clear entered FATAL state, too many start retries too quickly