/rds-oracle

name: rds-oracle
version: 1
description: Diagnoses and resolves Amazon RDS for Oracle connectivity, authentication, networking, and driver troubleshooting. Applicable to any RDS-for-Oracle question including connecting a Python Lambda to RDS Oracle in a VPC with pooling and cold-start optimization, EKS pods to RDS Oracle via the Secrets Manager CSI driver with IRSA and SecretProviderClass, ORA-12170 cross-VPC timeouts from EC2, DPI-1047 cannot-locate-64-bit-Oracle-Client errors, and Oracle Connection Manager (CMAN) on EC2 as a proxy with HA across two AZs. Covers python-oracledb thin vs thick mode, init_oracle_client, RDS Proxy does NOT support RDS Oracle, port 1521, VPC peering, Transit Gateway, Kerberos with AWS Managed Microsoft AD, SSL/TLS/NNE, SSM port forwarding, EC2/ECS Fargate/EKS/Lambda, SQL Developer/DBeaver/Toad/SQLcl, and Secrets Manager.

Amazon RDS for Oracle — Connectivity

Safety guidance

This skill covers creating and modifying RDS for Oracle resources when the user requests it. The agent MUST confirm the action with the user before executing. Do NOT execute any create or modify operation without explicit user confirmation (e.g., "yes", "proceed", "confirmed", "go ahead"). If the user has not confirmed, present the planned action and ask for approval.

Execute these operations (after user confirmation)

• Create an instance: `create-db-instance` (requires a DB subnet group; RDS Oracle is VPC-only and not publicly accessible by default)
• Create a custom parameter group: `create-db-parameter-group` (family `oracle-se2-19`, `oracle-ee-19`, etc.)
• Create an option group: `create-option-group` (for Oracle Native Network Encryption, TLS/TCPS, S3 integration, APEX, Spatial)
• Change backup retention: `modify-db-instance --backup-retention-period`
• Enable/disable deletion protection: `modify-db-instance --deletion-protection`
• Change CloudWatch log exports: `modify-db-instance --cloudwatch-logs-export-configuration`
• Attach/detach parameter group or option group: `modify-db-instance --db-parameter-group-name / --option-group-name`
• Tag resources: `add-tags-to-resource`, `remove-tags-from-resource`

Resource tagging (always apply on resource creation)

When creating any RDS for Oracle resource (`create-db-instance`, `create-db-parameter-group`, `create-option-group`, `create-db-instance-read-replica`), ALWAYS include these tags using the RDS list-of-records `--tags` syntax:

`--tags Key=created_by,Value=rds-oracle-skill Key=generation_model,Value={your-model-id}`

Example: `--tags Key=created_by,Value=rds-oracle-skill Key=generation_model,Value=claude-sonnet-4-20250514`

Include these tags even if the user does not mention tagging, so that they can identify the resources created via this skill. If the user provides additional tags, append these to their tags rather than replacing them. The same applies when tagging via `add-tags-to-resource` on existing resources.

Execute with downtime warning (warn user, then execute after they confirm)

• Change instance class: `modify-db-instance --db-instance-class` — warn: "This causes a failover in Multi-AZ configurations and brief unavailability on single-AZ instances."
• Minor engine version upgrade: `modify-db-instance --engine-version` within the same major (e.g., 19.0.0.0.ru-2024-01 → 19.0.0.0.ru-2024-04) — warn: "This triggers a restart and may cause a brief outage."
• Storage type or IOPS change: `modify-db-instance --storage-type` / `--iops` — warn: "This can cause extended IO degradation while the change applies."
• Apply immediately: any `modify-db-instance --apply-immediately` — warn: "This applies outside the maintenance window and may cause downtime now."

Do NOT execute (refuse, explain why, offer assessment instead)

• Delete instance: `delete-db-instance` — irreversible data loss
• Delete automated backups: `delete-db-instance --delete-automated-backups` — destroys point-in-time recovery history
• Force failover: `reboot-db-instance --force-failover` — production impact
• Major version upgrade: `modify-db-instance --engine-version` across major versions (e.g., 19c → 21c) — requires prechecks, option group migration, and a rollback plan; should go through change-control
• Reboot: `reboot-db-instance` — production impact
• Promote a read replica: `promote-read-replica` — breaks replication and is rarely reversible
• Enable public accessibility: `modify-db-instance --publicly-accessible true` — security regression; use SSM port forwarding, VPN, or Direct Connect instead (per the Overview's security posture)

When refusing, explain why and offer the matching assessment workflow: > "I can't perform [action] because [reason]. I can run an assessment to help you decide. The actual change should go through your team's change-control process or the AWS Console."

Overview

Amazon RDS for Oracle is a managed Oracle Database service. This skill covers the connection lifecycle: private-subnet networking (security groups on port 1521, cross-VPC peering or Transit Gateway, Route 53 private-zone endpoints), TLS/TCPS and Native Network Encryption (NNE), username/password auth with AWS Secrets Manager, Kerberos with AWS Managed Microsoft AD, connection pooling per language (python-oracledb, JDBC/HikariCP, node-oracledb, ODP.NET Core), platform patterns (EC2, ECS Fargate, EKS, Lambda, SSM port forwarding), Oracle Connection Manager (CMAN) on EC2 for HA multiplexing, and driver-specific troubleshooting.

Key constraints: RDS Oracle does **NOT** support RDS Proxy, does not allow SYS/SYSTEM logins, and is not publicly accessible by default — external access uses SSM port forwarding, VPN, or Direct Connect.

Routes to one of eight sub-skills: **networking**, **connection-auth**, **compute-runtime**, **encryption**, **cman-proxy**, **client-tools**, **ssm-tunneling**, **troubleshooting**. Load only the matching reference.

Security Considerations

• **Encryption at rest:** Enable `--storage-encrypted` (an