As the hosting operator, use these steps when helping your customer connect SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to the RDS instance linked to their PD AWS SQL Server service. The customer uses the service’s database credentials; your hosting business’s AWS access key and billing-account password are separate.

Check readiness with your customer

Open the active service’s Overview in the WHMCS client area. Confirm that AWS reports the instance available and obtain its current endpoint, port, username and password privately. The normal SQL Server port is 1433; the module provisions the master username pdmaster. If a credential is missing or rejected, your hosting team should compare the original service result and the intended database login before requesting another change. Repeated password resets or another Create request do not establish which credential the existing instance accepts.

Your customer’s workstation also needs a permitted network path to that endpoint. An internet connection needs the intended public-access configuration and allowed source address; a private database needs its established private network path.

Customer steps: open the SSMS connection

1. In a compatible SSMS client, start a connection to the Database Engine.
2. Enter the service’s endpoint in Server name, followed by a comma and port 1433.
3. Choose SQL Server Authentication and enter the database login privately.
4. In current SSMS versions, set Encryption to Mandatory and leave Trust server certificate unchecked.
5. Connect and confirm the intended instance appears in Object Explorer.

Use the RDS endpoint name rather than replacing it with an IP address. Certificate validation checks the server identity as well as encrypting traffic. Microsoft explains the SSMS encryption settings; older clients can label them differently.

Resolve the right type of failure

A timeout calls for a network and availability check. A login refusal calls for checking the database credential and authentication method. For a certificate error, your hosting team should verify the RDS certificate chain and workstation trust; keep certificate validation enabled while investigating the trust problem. Once connected, use the application-database guide if you need a new database.

See the PD AWS SQL Server WHMCS guide for related tasks, or explore PD AWS SQL Server.