# Managing an Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
Amazon RDS Custom supports a subset of the usual management tasks for Amazon RDS DB instances. Following, you can find instructions for the supported RDS Custom for Oracle management tasks using the AWS Management Console and the AWS CLI.
**Topics**
+ [Working with container databases (CDBs) in RDS Custom for Oracle](custom-managing.multitenant.md)
+ [Working with high availability features for RDS Custom for Oracle](custom-managing.ha.md)
+ [Customizing your RDS Custom environment](custom-managing.customizing-env.md)
+ [Modifying your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance](custom-managing.modifying.md)
+ [Changing the character set of an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance](custom-managing.character-set.md)
+ [Setting the NLS\$1LANG value in RDS Custom for Oracle](custom-managing.nlslang.md)
+ [Support for Transparent Data Encryption](#custom-managing.tde)
+ [Tagging RDS Custom for Oracle resources](custom-managing.tagging.md)
+ [Deleting an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance](custom-managing.deleting.md)
# Working with container databases (CDBs) in RDS Custom for Oracle
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
You can either create your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance with the Oracle multitenant architecture (`custom-oracle-ee-cdb` or `custom-oracle-se2-cdb` engine type) or with the traditional non-CDB architecture (`custom-oracle-ee` or `custom-oracle-se2` engine type). When you create a container database (CDB), it contains one pluggable database (PDB) and one PDB seed. You can create additional PDBs manually using Oracle SQL.
## PDB and CDB names
When you create an RDS Custom for Oracle CDB instance, you specify a name for the initial PDB. By default, your initial PDB is named `ORCL`. You can choose a different name.
By default, your CDB is named `RDSCDB`. You can choose a different name. The CDB name is also the name of your Oracle system identifier (SID), which uniquely identifies the memory and processes that manage your CDB. For more information about the Oracle SID, see [Oracle System Identifier (SID)](https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/19/cncpt/oracle-database-instance.html#GUID-8BB8140D-63ED-454E-AAC3-1964F80D102D) in *Oracle Database Concepts*.
You can't rename existing PDBs using Amazon RDS APIs. You also can't rename the CDB using the `modify-db-instance` command.
## PDB management
In the RDS Custom for Oracle shared responsibility model, you are responsible for managing PDBs and creating any additional PDBs. RDS Custom doesn't restrict the number of PDBs. You can manually create, modify, and delete PDBs by connecting to the CDB root and running a SQL statement. Create PDBs on an Amazon EBS data volume to prevent the DB instance from going outside the support perimeter.
To modify your CDBs or PDBs, complete the following steps:
1. Pause automation to prevent interference with RDS Custom actions.
1. Modify your CDB or PDBs.
1. Back up any modified PDBs.
1. Resume RDS Custom automation.
## Automatic recovery of the CDB root
RDS Custom keeps the CDB root open in the same way as it keeps a non-CDB open. If the state of the CDB root changes, the monitoring and recovery automation attempts to recover the CDB root to the desired state. You receive RDS event notifications when the root CDB is shut down (`RDS-EVENT-0004`) or restarted (`RDS-EVENT-0006`), similar to the non-CDB architecture. RDS Custom attempts to open all PDBs in `READ WRITE` mode at DB instance startup. If some PDBs can't be opened, RDS Custom publishes the following event: `tenant database shutdown`.
# Working with high availability features for RDS Custom for Oracle
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
RDS Custom for Oracle provides built-in high availability through Multi-AZ deployments. Alternatively, you can use Oracle Data Guard as a customer-managed option based on your use cases.
## Multi-AZ deployments (fully-managed)
With Multi-AZ deployments for RDS Custom for Oracle, Amazon RDS automatically provisions and maintains a synchronous standby replica in a different Availability Zone (AZ). The primary DB instance is synchronously replicated across AZs to a standby replica for data redundancy. Multi-AZ deployment is supported in both the Enterprise Edition and the Standard Edition 2. See [Managing a Multi-AZ deployment for RDS Custom for Oracle](custom-oracle-multiaz.md) for details.
## Oracle Data Guard (customer-managed)
Alternatively, you can achieve high availability by manually configuring Oracle Data Guard to replicate data between RDS Custom for Oracle DB instances. The primary DB instance automatically synchronizes data to the standby instances. Oracle Data Guard is supported only in the Enterprise Edition.
You can configure your high availability environment in the following ways:
+ Configure standby instances in different AZs to be resilient to AZ failures.
+ Place your standby databases in mounted or read-only mode. Read-only mode requires an Oracle Active Data Guard license.
+ Fail over or switch over from the primary database to a standby database with no data loss.
+ Migrate data by configuring high availability for your on-premises instance, and then failing over or switching over to the RDS Custom for Oracle standby database.
To learn how to configure Oracle Data Guard for high availability, see the AWS blog [Build high availability for RDS Custom for Oracle using read replicas](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/build-high-availability-for-amazon-rds-custom-for-oracle-using-read-replicas/). You can perform the following tasks:
+ Use a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel to encrypt data in transit for your high availability instances. Encryption in transit isn't configured automatically by RDS Custom for Oracle.
+ Configure Oracle Fast-Failover Observer (FSFO) to monitor your high availability instances.
+ Allow the observer to perform automatic failover when necessary conditions are met.
# Customizing your RDS Custom environment
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
RDS Custom for Oracle includes built-in features that allow you to customize your DB instance environment without pausing automation. For example, you can use RDS APIs to customize your environment as follows:
+ Create and restore DB snapshots to create a clone environment.
+ Create read replicas.
+ Modify storage settings.
+ Change the CEV to apply release updates
For some customizations, such as changing the character set, you can't use the RDS APIs. In these cases, you need to change the environment manually by accessing your Amazon EC2 instance as the root user or logging in to your Oracle database as `SYSDBA`.
To customize your instance manually, you must pause and resume RDS Custom automation. This pause ensures that your customizations don't interfere with RDS Custom automation. In this way, you avoid breaking the support perimeter, which places the instance in the `unsupported-configuration` state until you fix the underlying issues. Pausing and resuming are the only supported automation tasks when you modify an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance.
## General steps for customizing your RDS Custom environment
To customize your RDS Custom DB instance, complete the following steps:
1. Pause RDS Custom automation for a specified period using the console or CLI.
1. Identify your underlying Amazon EC2 instance.
1. Connect to your underlying Amazon EC2 instance using SSH keys or AWS Systems Manager.
1. Verify your current configuration settings at the database or operating system layer.
You can validate your changes by comparing the initial configuration to the changed configuration. Depending on the type of customization, use OS tools or database queries.
1. Customize your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance as needed.
1. Reboot your instance or database, if required.
**Note**
In an on-premises Oracle CDB, you can preserve a specified open mode for PDBs using a built-in command or after a startup trigger. This mechanism brings PDBs to a specified state when the CDB restarts. When opening your CDB, RDS Custom automation discards any user-specified preserved states and attempts to open all PDBs. If RDS Custom can't open all PDBs, the following event is issued: `The following PDBs failed to open: list-of-PDBs`.
1. Verify your new configuration settings by comparing them with the previous settings.
1. Resume RDS Custom automation in either of the following ways:
+ Resume automation manually.
+ Wait for the pause period to end. In this case, RDS Custom resumes monitoring and instance recovery automatically.
1. Verify the RDS Custom automation framework
If you followed the preceding steps correctly, RDS Custom starts an automated backup. The status of the instance in the console shows **Available**.
For best practices and step-by-step instructions, see the AWS blog posts [Make configuration changes to an Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle instance: Part 1](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/part-1-make-configuration-changes-to-an-amazon-rds-custom-for-oracle-instance/) and [Recreate an Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle database: Part 2](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/part-2-recreate-an-amazon-rds-custom-for-oracle-database/).
## Pausing and resuming your RDS Custom DB instance
You can pause and resume automation for your DB instance using the console or CLI.
### Console
**To pause or resume RDS Custom automation**
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon RDS console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Databases**, and then choose the RDS Custom DB instance that you want to modify.
1. Choose **Modify**. The **Modify DB instance** page appears.
1. For **RDS Custom automation mode**, choose one of the following options:
+ **Paused** pauses the monitoring and instance recovery for the RDS Custom DB instance. Enter the pause duration that you want (in minutes) for **Automation mode duration**. The minimum value is 60 minutes (default). The maximum value is 1,440 minutes.
+ **Full automation** resumes automation.
1. Choose **Continue** to check the summary of modifications.
A message indicates that RDS Custom will apply the changes immediately.
1. If your changes are correct, choose **Modify DB instance**. Or choose **Back** to edit your changes or **Cancel** to cancel your changes.
On the RDS console, the details for the modification appear. If you paused automation, the **Status** of your RDS Custom DB instance indicates **Automation paused**.
1. (Optional) In the navigation pane, choose **Databases**, and then your RDS Custom DB instance.
In the **Summary** pane, **RDS Custom automation mode** indicates the automation status. If automation is paused, the value is **Paused. Automation resumes in *num* minutes**.
### AWS CLI
To pause or resume RDS Custom automation, use the `modify-db-instance` AWS CLI command. Identify the DB instance using the required parameter `--db-instance-identifier`. Control the automation mode with the following parameters:
+ `--automation-mode` specifies the pause state of the DB instance. Valid values are `all-paused`, which pauses automation, and `full`, which resumes it.
+ `--resume-full-automation-mode-minutes` specifies the duration of the pause. The default value is 60 minutes.
**Note**
Regardless of whether you specify `--no-apply-immediately` or `--apply-immediately`, RDS Custom applies modifications asynchronously as soon as possible.
In the command response, `ResumeFullAutomationModeTime` indicates the resume time as a UTC timestamp. When the automation mode is `all-paused`, you can use `modify-db-instance` to resume automation mode or extend the pause period. No other `modify-db-instance` options are supported.
The following example pauses automation for `my-custom-instance` for 90 minutes.
**Example**
For Linux, macOS, or Unix:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance \
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance \
--automation-mode all-paused \
--resume-full-automation-mode-minutes 90
```
For Windows:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance ^
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance ^
--automation-mode all-paused ^
--resume-full-automation-mode-minutes 90
```
The following example extends the pause duration for an extra 30 minutes. The 30 minutes is added to the original time shown in `ResumeFullAutomationModeTime`.
**Example**
For Linux, macOS, or Unix:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance \
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance \
--automation-mode all-paused \
--resume-full-automation-mode-minutes 30
```
For Windows:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance ^
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance ^
--automation-mode all-paused ^
--resume-full-automation-mode-minutes 30
```
The following example resumes full automation for `my-custom-instance`.
**Example**
For Linux, macOS, or Unix:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance \
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance \
--automation-mode full \
```
For Windows:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance ^
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance ^
--automation-mode full
```
In the following partial sample output, the pending `AutomationMode` value is `full`.
```
{
"DBInstance": {
"PubliclyAccessible": true,
"MasterUsername": "admin",
"MonitoringInterval": 0,
"LicenseModel": "bring-your-own-license",
"VpcSecurityGroups": [
{
"Status": "active",
"VpcSecurityGroupId": "0123456789abcdefg"
}
],
"InstanceCreateTime": "2020-11-07T19:50:06.193Z",
"CopyTagsToSnapshot": false,
"OptionGroupMemberships": [
{
"Status": "in-sync",
"OptionGroupName": "default:custom-oracle-ee-19"
}
],
"PendingModifiedValues": {
"AutomationMode": "full"
},
"Engine": "custom-oracle-ee",
"MultiAZ": false,
"DBSecurityGroups": [],
"DBParameterGroups": [
{
"DBParameterGroupName": "default.custom-oracle-ee-19",
"ParameterApplyStatus": "in-sync"
}
],
...
"ReadReplicaDBInstanceIdentifiers": [],
"AllocatedStorage": 250,
"DBInstanceArn": "arn:aws:rds:us-west-2:012345678912:db:my-custom-instance",
"BackupRetentionPeriod": 3,
"DBName": "ORCL",
"PreferredMaintenanceWindow": "fri:10:56-fri:11:26",
"Endpoint": {
"HostedZoneId": "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO",
"Port": 8200,
"Address": "my-custom-instance.abcdefghijk.us-west-2.rds.amazonaws.com"
},
"DBInstanceStatus": "automation-paused",
"IAMDatabaseAuthenticationEnabled": false,
"AutomationMode": "all-paused",
"EngineVersion": "19.my_cev1",
"DeletionProtection": false,
"AvailabilityZone": "us-west-2a",
"DomainMemberships": [],
"StorageType": "gp2",
"DbiResourceId": "db-ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW",
"ResumeFullAutomationModeTime": "2020-11-07T20:56:50.565Z",
"KmsKeyId": "arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:012345678912:key/aa111a11-111a-11a1-1a11-1111a11a1a1a",
"StorageEncrypted": false,
"AssociatedRoles": [],
"DBInstanceClass": "db.m5.xlarge",
"DbInstancePort": 0,
"DBInstanceIdentifier": "my-custom-instance",
"TagList": []
}
```
# Modifying your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
Modifying an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance is similar to modifying an Amazon RDS DB instance. You can change settings such as the following:
+ DB instance class
+ Storage allocation and type
+ Backup retention period
+ Deletion protection
+ Option group
+ CEV (see [Upgrading an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance](custom-upgrading-modify.md))
+ Port
**Topics**
+ [Requirements and limitations when modifying your DB instance storage](#custom-managing.storage-modify)
+ [Requirements and limitations when modifying your DB instance class](#custom-managing.instance-class-reqs)
+ [How RDS Custom creates your DB instance when you modify the instance class](#custom-managing.instance-class-resources)
+ [Modifying your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance](#custom-managing.modifying.procedure)
## Requirements and limitations when modifying your DB instance storage
Consider the following requirements and limitations when you modify the storage for an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance:
+ The minimum allocated storage for RDS Custom for Oracle is 40 GiB, and the maximum is 64 TiB.
+ As with Amazon RDS, you can't decrease the allocated storage. This is a limitation of Amazon EBS volumes.
+ Storage autoscaling isn't supported for RDS Custom DB instances.
+ Any storage volumes that you attach manually to your RDS Custom DB instance are outside the support perimeter.
For more information, see [RDS Custom support perimeter](custom-concept.md#custom-troubleshooting.support-perimeter).
+ Magnetic (standard) Amazon EBS storage isn't supported for RDS Custom. You can choose only the io1, io2, gp2, or gp3 SSD storage types.
For more information about Amazon EBS storage, see [Amazon RDS DB instance storage](CHAP_Storage.md). For general information about storage modification, see [Working with storage for Amazon RDS DB instances](USER_PIOPS.StorageTypes.md).
## Requirements and limitations when modifying your DB instance class
Consider the following requirements and limitations when you modify the instance class for an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance:
+ Your DB instance must be in the `available` state.
+ Your DB instance must have a minimum of 100 MiB of free space on the root volume, data volume, and binary volume.
+ You can assign only a single elastic IP (EIP) to your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance when using the default elastic network interface (ENI). If you attach multiple ENIs to your DB instance, the modify operation fails.
+ All RDS Custom for Oracle tags must be present.
+ If you use RDS Custom for Oracle replication, note the following requirements and limitations:
+ For primary DB instances and read replicas, you can change the instance class for only one DB instance at a time.
+ If your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance has an on-premises primary or replica database, make sure to manually update private IP addresses on the on-premises DB instance after the modification completes. This action is necessary to preserve Oracle DataGuard functionality. RDS Custom for Oracle publishes an event when the modification succeeds.
+ You can't modify your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance class when the primary or read replica DB instances have FSFO (Fast-Start Failover) configured.
## How RDS Custom creates your DB instance when you modify the instance class
When you modify your instance class, RDS Custom creates your DB instance as follows:
+ Creates the Amazon EC2 instance.
+ Creates the root volume from the latest DB snapshot. RDS Custom for Oracle doesn't retain information added to the root volume after the latest DB snapshot.
+ Creates Amazon CloudWatch alarms.
+ Creates an Amazon EC2 SSH key pair if you have deleted the original key pair. Otherwise, RDS Custom for Oracle retains the original key pair.
+ Creates new resources using the tags that are attached to your DB instance when you initiate the modification. RDS Custom doesn't transfer tags to the new resources when they are attached directly to underlying resources.
+ Transfers the binary and data volumes with the most recent modifications to the new DB instance.
+ Transfers the elastic IP address (EIP). If the DB instance is publicly accessible, then RDS Custom temporarily attaches a public IP address to the new DB instance before transferring the EIP. If the DB instance isn't publicly accessible, RDS Custom doesn't create public IP addresses.
## Modifying your RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance
You can modify the DB instance class or storage using the console, AWS CLI, or RDS API.
### Console
**To modify an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance**
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon RDS console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Databases**.
1. Choose the DB instance that you want to modify.
1. Choose **Modify**.
1. (Optional) In **Instance configuration**, choose a value for **DB instance class**. For supported classes, see [DB instance class support for RDS Custom for Oracle](custom-oracle-feature-support.md#custom-reqs-limits.instances).
1. (Optional) In **Storage**, make the following changes as needed:
1. Enter a new value for **Allocated storage**. It must be greater than the current value, and from 40 GiB–64 TiB.
1. Change the value for **Storage type** to **General Purpose SSD (gp2)**, **General Purpose SSD (gp3)**, **Provisioned IOPS (io1)**, or **Provisioned IOPS (io2)**.
1. If you specified a storage type other than **General Purpose SSD (gp2)**, you can change the **Provisioned IOPS** value.
1. (Optional) In **Additional configuration**, make the following changes as needed:
1. For **Option group**, choose a new option group. For more information, see [Working with option groups in RDS Custom for Oracle](custom-oracle-option-groups.md).
1. Choose **Continue**.
1. Choose **Apply immediately** or **Apply during the next scheduled maintenance window**.
1. Choose **Modify DB instance**.
### AWS CLI
To modify the storage for an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance, use the [modify-db-instance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/rds/modify-db-instance.html) AWS CLI command. Set the following parameters as needed:
+ `--db-instance-class` – A new instance class. For supported classes, see [DB instance class support for RDS Custom for Oracle](custom-oracle-feature-support.md#custom-reqs-limits.instances).
+ `--allocated-storage` – Amount of storage to be allocated for the DB instance, in gibibytes. It must be greater than the current value, and from 40–65,536 GiB.
+ `--storage-type` – The storage type: gp2, gp3, io1, or io2.
+ `--iops` – Provisioned IOPS for the DB instance, if using the io1, io2, or gp3 storage types.
+ `--apply-immediately` – Use `--apply-immediately` to apply the storage changes immediately.
Or use `--no-apply-immediately` (the default) to apply the changes during the next maintenance window.
The following example changes the DB instance class of `my-cfo-instance` to `db.m5.16xlarge`. The command also changes the storage size to `1024` (1 TiB), storage type to `io2`, Provisioned IOPS to `3000`, and option group to `cfo-ee-19-mt`.
**Example**
For Linux, macOS, or Unix:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance \
--db-instance-identifier my-cfo-instance \
--db-instance-class db.m5.16xlarge \
--storage-type io2 \
--iops 3000 \
--allocated-storage 1024 \
--option-group cfo-ee-19-mt \
--apply-immediately
```
For Windows:
```
aws rds modify-db-instance ^
--db-instance-identifier my-cfo-instance ^
--db-instance-class db.m5.16xlarge ^
--storage-type io2 ^
--iops 3000 ^
--allocated-storage 1024 ^
--option-group cfo-ee-19-mt ^
--apply-immediately
```
# Changing the character set of an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
RDS Custom for Oracle defaults to the character set US7ASCII. You might want to specify different character sets to meet language or multibyte character requirements. When you use RDS Custom for Oracle, you can pause automation and then change the character set of your database manually.
Changing the character set of an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance has the following requirements:
+ You can only change the character on a newly provisioned RDS Custom instance that has an empty or starter database with no application data. For all other scenarios, change the character set using DMU (Database Migration Assistant for Unicode).
+ You can only change to a character set supported by RDS for Oracle. For more information, see [Supported DB character sets](Appendix.OracleCharacterSets.md#Appendix.OracleCharacterSets.db-character-set.supported).
**To change the character set of an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance**
1. Pause RDS Custom automation. For more information, see [Pausing and resuming your RDS Custom DB instance](custom-managing.customizing-env.md#custom-managing.pausing).
1. Log in to your database as a user with `SYSDBA` privileges.
1. Restart the database in restricted mode, change the character set, and then restart the database in normal mode.
Run the following script in your SQL client:
```
SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
STARTUP RESTRICT;
ALTER DATABASE CHARACTER SET INTERNAL_CONVERT AL32UTF8;
SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
STARTUP;
SELECT VALUE FROM NLS_DATABASE_PARAMETERS WHERE PARAMETER = 'NLS_CHARACTERSET';
```
Verify that the output shows the correct character set:
```
VALUE
--------
AL32UTF8
```
1. Resume RDS Custom automation. For more information, see [Pausing and resuming your RDS Custom DB instance](custom-managing.customizing-env.md#custom-managing.pausing).
# Setting the NLS\$1LANG value in RDS Custom for Oracle
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
A *locale* is a set of information addressing linguistic and cultural requirements that corresponds to a given language and country. To specify locale behavior for Oracle software, set the `NLS_LANG` environment variable on your client host. This variable sets the language, territory, and character set used by the client application in a database session.
For RDS Custom for Oracle, you can set only the language in the `NLS_LANG` variable: the territory and character use defaults. The language is used for Oracle database messages, collation, day names, and month names. Each supported language has a unique name, for example, American, French, or German. If language is not specified, the value defaults to American.
After you create your RDS Custom for Oracle database, you can set `NLS_LANG` on your client host to a language other than English. To see a list of languages supported by Oracle Database, log in to your RDS Custom for Oracle database and run the following query:
```
SELECT VALUE FROM V$NLS_VALID_VALUES WHERE PARAMETER='LANGUAGE' ORDER BY VALUE;
```
You can set `NLS_LANG` on the host command line. The following example sets the language to German for your client application using the Z shell on Linux.
```
export NLS_LANG=German
```
Your application reads the `NLS_LANG` value when it starts and then communicates it to the database when it connects.
For more information, see [Choosing a Locale with the NLS\$1LANG Environment Variable ](https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-database/21/nlspg/setting-up-globalization-support-environment.html#GUID-86A29834-AE29-4BA5-8A78-E19C168B690A) in the *Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide*.
## Support for Transparent Data Encryption
RDS Custom supports Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for RDS Custom for Oracle DB instances.
However, you can't enable TDE using an option in a custom option group as you can in RDS for Oracle. You turn on TDE manually. For information about using Oracle Transparent Data Encryption, see [Securing stored data using Transparent Data Encryption](http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11882_01/network.112/e40393/asotrans.htm#BABFGJAG) in the Oracle documentation.
# Tagging RDS Custom for Oracle resources
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
You can tag RDS Custom resources as with Amazon RDS resources, but with some important differences:
+ Don't create or modify the `AWSRDSCustom` tag that's required for RDS Custom automation. If you do, you might break the automation.
+ The `Name` tag is added to RDS Custom resources with prefix value of `do-not-delete-rds-custom` or `rds-custom!oracle-do-not-delete`. Any customer-passed value for the key is overwritten.
+ Tags added to RDS Custom DB instances during creation are propagated to all other related RDS Custom resources.
+ Tags aren't propagated when you add them to RDS Custom resources after DB instance creation.
For general information about resource tagging, see [Tagging Amazon RDS resources](USER_Tagging.md).
# Deleting an RDS Custom for Oracle DB instance
**Note**
End of support notice: On March 31, 2027, AWS will end support for Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. After March 31, 2027, you will no longer be able to access the RDS Custom for Oracle console or RDS Custom for Oracle resources. For more information, see [RDS Custom for Oracle end of support](RDS-Custom-for-Oracle-end-of-support.md).
**Warning**
Deleting a DB instance is a permanent action. You can't recover a DB instance after deletion unless you have a backup or snapshot.
When you delete an RDS Custom DB instance, AWS automatically deletes the underlying Amazon EC2 instance and EBS volumes. Don't manually terminate the Amazon EC2 instance or delete the EBS volumes before deleting the DB instance through Amazon RDS. Manual deletion of these resources causes DB instance deletion and final snapshot creation to fail, preventing any possibility of recovery.
To delete an RDS Custom DB instance, do the following:
+ Provide the name of the DB instance.
+ Clear the option to take a final DB snapshot of the DB instance.
+ Choose or clear the option to retain automated backups.
You can delete an RDS Custom DB instance using the console or the CLI. The time required to delete the DB instance can vary depending on the backup retention period (that is, how many backups to delete) and how much data is deleted.
## Console
**To delete an RDS Custom DB instance**
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon RDS console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Databases**, and then choose the RDS Custom DB instance that you want to delete. RDS Custom DB instances show the role **Instance (RDS Custom)**.
1. For **Actions**, choose **Delete**.
1. To retain automated backups, choose **Retain automated backups**.
1. Enter **delete me** in the box.
1. Choose **Delete**.
## AWS CLI
You delete an RDS Custom DB instance by using the [delete-db-instance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/rds/delete-db-instance.html) AWS CLI command. Identify the DB instance using the required parameter `--db-instance-identifier`. The remaining parameters are the same as for an Amazon RDS DB instance, with the following exceptions:
+ `--skip-final-snapshot` is required.
+ `--no-skip-final-snapshot` isn't supported.
+ `--final-db-snapshot-identifier` isn't supported.
The following example deletes the RDS Custom DB instance named `my-custom-instance`, and retains automated backups.
**Example**
For Linux, macOS, or Unix:
```
aws rds delete-db-instance \
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance \
--skip-final-snapshot \
--no-delete-automated-backups
```
For Windows:
```
aws rds delete-db-instance ^
--db-instance-identifier my-custom-instance ^
--skip-final-snapshot ^
--no-delete-automated-backups
```