AWS MySQL connection frequently times out

Question

I have a MySQL database in AWS (RDS), and I connect to it from command line via this command: ``` mysql -u _usernme_ -p_mypassword_ -h _aws_mysql_host_ _dbname_ ``` It connects fine, problem is, if it remains idle for 1-2 minutes, the connection dies, subsequent commands just hang. I have to kill the process and start a new one. What configuration changes do I need to do, and where, so that it stays alive forever, just like `localhost`, until I expressly terminate the connection?

Accepted Answer

You can find out relevant timeout values as follows:

```
SHOW VARIABLES LIKE '%_timeout';
```

You might want to check to make sure wait_timeout and interactive_timeout are adequately set. Both are default to 28800 (i.e. 8 hours):

```
SET GLOBAL wait_timeout = 28800;
SET GLOBAL interactive_timeout = 28800;
```

AWS MySQL connection frequently times out

Solution

Problem