Create a cluster in Timestream for InfluxDB 3 - Amazon Timestream
Using the AWS Management ConsoleUsing the AWS CLIPost-creation steps

For similar capabilities to Amazon Timestream for LiveAnalytics, consider Amazon Timestream for InfluxDB. It offers simplified data ingestion and single-digit millisecond query response times for real-time analytics. Learn more here.

Create a cluster in Timestream for InfluxDB 3

Creating a new InfluxDB 3 cluster in Amazon Timestream involves selecting the appropriate version, deployment model, and configuration settings to meet your workload requirements.

Using the AWS Management Console

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Timestream for InfluxDB console.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose InfluxDB Databases.

  3. Choose Create InfluxDB database.

  4. For Engine Version, choose InfluxDB 3 as your engine version

  5. For Edition:

    • Choose Core for development, testing, or near real-time monitoring of recent data.

    • Choose Enterprise for production workloads requiring high availability, long-term storage, and compaction.

  6. Configure Deployment (based on Edition selected).

    • For Core Edition:

      • Automatically configured as single-node deployment

      • No additional node configuration required

    • For Enterprise Edition:

      • Choose deployment configuration:

        • Single-node: One node handling writer, reader, and compactor roles

        • 3-node cluster: 2 writer/reader nodes + 1 dedicated compactor node

        • Multi-node cluster (up to 15 nodes): Configure via custom parameter group with:

          • 1-4 writer/reader nodes (ingestQueryInstances)

          • 0-13 reader-only nodes (queryOnlyInstances)

          • 1 dedicated compactor (required for clusters with 3+ nodes)

        Note

        To create a multi-node cluster with more than 3 nodes, you must first create a custom parameter group with your desired node configuration, then create the cluster using that parameter group.

  7. Configure cluster settings

    • DB cluster identifier: Enter a unique name for your cluster.

    • DB instance class: Select from db.influx instance classes (applies to all nodes).

    • Parameter group:

      • Select a service-defined parameter group:

        • InfluxDBv3Core (for Core single-node)

        • InfluxDBv3Enterprise (for Enterprise 3-node)

        • InfluxDBv3Enterprise1Node (for Enterprise single-node)

      • Or create/select a custom parameter group for multi-node configurations

  8. Configure network settings

    • Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): Select your VPC.

    • DB subnet group: Choose subnets across availability zones.

    • VPC security groups: Select security groups for network access control.

    • Public accessibility:

      • Yes: Cluster accessible from internet (with proper security group rules).

      • No: Cluster only accessible within VPC.

    Note

    Shared VPCs are not currently supported for Timestream for InfluxDB 3.

    Note

    For multi-node clusters, nodes are automatically distributed across multiple Availability Zones for high availability.

  9. (Optional) Configure additional settings 

    • Tags: Add metadata tags for organization and billing.

  10. Review and create

    • Review all configuration settings.

    • Choose Create InfluxDB database.

The cluster creation process typically takes 10-20 minutes. The console will display the status as "Creating" and change to "Available" when ready.

Using the AWS CLI

Create an InfluxDB 3 Core cluster:

aws timestream-influxdb create-db-cluster \
  --region us-east-1 \
  --name "my-influxdb3-core-cluster" \
  --db-parameter-group-identifier "InfluxDBv3Core" \
  --db-instance-type db.influx.large \
  --vpc-subnet-ids subnet-12345abc subnet-67890def \
  --vpc-security-group-ids sg-12345abc \
  --publicly-accessible false

Create an InfluxDB 3 Enterprise cluster (3-node):

aws timestream-influxdb create-db-cluster \
  --region us-east-1 \
  --name "my-influxdb3-enterprise-cluster" \
  --db-parameter-group-identifier "InfluxDBv3Enterprise" \
  --db-instance-type db.influx.xlarge \
  --vpc-subnet-ids subnet-12345abc subnet-67890def \
  --vpc-security-group-ids sg-12345abc \
  --publicly-accessible false \
  --log-delivery-configuration '{
    "s3Configuration": {
      "bucketName": "my-influxdb-logs",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }'

Create an InfluxDB 3 Enterprise cluster (single-node):

aws timestream-influxdb create-db-cluster \
  --region us-east-1 \
  --name "my-influxdb3-enterprise-single" \
  --db-parameter-group-identifier "InfluxDBv3Enterprise1Node" \
  --db-instance-type db.influx.large \
  --vpc-subnet-ids subnet-12345abc subnet-67890def \
  --vpc-security-group-ids sg-12345abc \
  --publicly-accessible false

Create a cluster with a custom parameter group:

# First, create a custom parameter group
aws timestream-influxdb create-db-parameter-group \
  --name "custom-enterprise-pg" \
  --engine-type "InfluxDBv3Enterprise" \
  --parameters '{
    "InfluxDBv3Enterprise": {
      "ingestQueryInstances": 2,
      "queryOnlyInstances": 0,
      "dedicatedCompactor": true,
      "bufferMemLimitMb": 32768,
      "dataFusionNumThreads": 8
    }
  }'

# Then create the cluster using the parameter group identifier
aws timestream-influxdb create-db-cluster \
  --region us-east-1 \
  --name "my-custom-enterprise-cluster" \
  --db-parameter-group-identifier "<parameter-group-identifier>" \
  --db-instance-type db.influx.2xlarge \
  --vpc-subnet-ids subnet-12345abc subnet-67890def \
  --vpc-security-group-ids sg-12345abc
Note

The --db-parameter-group-identifier requires the parameter group identifier (not the name). Set dataFusionNumThreads to match the number of vCPUs for your instance type (for example, 8 for db.influx.2xlarge). For a complete guide on parameter configuration, see Parameter Groups for DB Clusters in Amazon Timestream.

Create a multi-node cluster (up to 15 nodes) with a custom parameter group:

# First, create a custom parameter group with your desired node configuration
aws timestream-influxdb create-db-parameter-group \
  --name "custom-multinode-pg" \
  --engine-type "InfluxDBv3Enterprise" \
  --parameters '{
    "InfluxDBv3Enterprise": {
      "ingestQueryInstances": 4,
      "queryOnlyInstances": 10,
      "dedicatedCompactor": true,
      "bufferMemLimitMb": 32768,
      "dataFusionNumThreads": 8
    }
  }'

# Then create the cluster using the parameter group identifier
aws timestream-influxdb create-db-cluster \
  --region us-east-1 \
  --name "my-multinode-enterprise-cluster" \
  --db-parameter-group-identifier "<parameter-group-identifier>" \
  --db-instance-type db.influxIOIncluded.2xlarge \
  --vpc-subnet-ids subnet-12345abc subnet-67890def \
  --vpc-security-group-ids sg-12345abc

Post-creation steps

After your cluster is created and available:

  1. Retrieve endpoints: 

    aws timestream-influxdb get-db-cluster \
  --identifier "my-influxdb3-cluster-id"

    For multi-node clusters, you will receive:

    • Cluster read/write endpoint: Distributes traffic to writer/reader nodes

    • Cluster read-only endpoint: Distributes traffic to all nodes capable of read operations (available when reader-only nodes are configured)

    • Node endpoints: Direct access to specific nodes for workload isolation

  2. Obtain your operator token:

    • Your operator token is stored in a secret in your AWS Secrets Manager account. The secret has the same name as your newly created cluster identifier.

  3. (Optional) Access InfluxDB explorer:

    • Download the InfluxDB Explorer from https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/explorer/.

    • For public clusters: Run the Explorer from any location with internet access.

    • For private clusters: Run the Explorer from within the same VPC (using an EC2 instance, bastion host, or through VPN connection).

  4. Verify connectivity: 

    influxdb3 query \
  --host "your-cluster-endpoint:8086" \
  --database "my-database" \
  --token "my-token" \
  "SHOW TABLES"

Please refer to InfluxDB 3 documentation to find information on writing data, executing queriers, or Administer your influxDB 3 Database.

Important considerations:

  • Edition Selection: Core is suitable for development and short-term data; Enterprise is required for production workloads with long-term storage needs.

  • Node Configuration: All nodes in a cluster share the same instance class and network configuration.

  • Parameter Groups: Immutable once created; changes require creating a new parameter group.

  • Scaling: Initial release supports 1-node and 3-node configurations; future updates will enable additional scaling options. At initial release you won’t be able to change your node count after creation.

  • High Availability: 3-node Enterprise configurations provide better fault tolerance and performance distribution.

  • Compaction: Enterprise edition's compaction capability is essential for maintaining performance over time.