Setting up custom timezone to AWS RDS (MySQL) instance

Sometimes we need to use a mysql RDS instance for I/O on a specific location. By default AWS RDS sets UTC timezone to MySQL instance. In my case I need to setup (Asia/Calcutta) as default timezone. You can change timezone of MySQL instance on AWS RDS with following steps:

1. Create Custom Parameter Group :
   You need to create a custom “Parameter Group” to setting up custom timezone. Go to
   RDS > Parameter Groups 

   

2. Click on Create Parameter Group
   
3. Name it and add a description to this Parameter Group. This will create a copy of default parameter groups. You will automatically get all variables that a default Parameter Group is using. You don’t need to define all other settings manually.
4. Your custom parameter group is created
   
5. Select your new custom parameter group and click on Edit
   
6. Search for time_zone variable name and choose from the following timezone list:
   (Africa/Cairo, Africa/Casablanca, Africa/Harare, Africa/Monrovia, Africa/Nairobi, Africa/Tripoli, Africa/Windhoek, America/Araguaina, America/Asuncion, America/Bogota, America/Buenos_Aires, America/Caracas, America/Chihuahua, America/Cuiaba, America/Denver, America/Fortaleza, America/Guatemala, America/Halifax, America/Manaus, America/Matamoros, America/Monterrey, America/Montevideo, America/Phoenix, America/Santiago, America/Tijuana, Asia/Amman, Asia/Ashgabat, Asia/Baghdad, Asia/Baku, Asia/Bangkok, Asia/Beirut, Asia/Calcutta, Asia/Damascus, Asia/Dhaka, Asia/Irkutsk, Asia/Jerusalem, Asia/Kabul, Asia/Karachi, Asia/Kathmandu, Asia/Krasnoyarsk, Asia/Magadan, Asia/Muscat, Asia/Novosibirsk, Asia/Riyadh, Asia/Seoul, Asia/Shanghai, Asia/Singapore, Asia/Taipei, Asia/Tehran, Asia/Tokyo, Asia/Ulaanbaatar, Asia/Vladivostok, Asia/Yakutsk, Asia/Yerevan, Atlantic/Azores, Australia/Adelaide, Australia/Brisbane, Australia/Darwin, Australia/Hobart, Australia/Perth, Australia/Sydney, Canada/Newfoundland, Canada/Saskatchewan, Brazil/East, Europe/Amsterdam, Europe/Athens, Europe/Dublin, Europe/Helsinki, Europe/Istanbul, Europe/Kaliningrad, Europe/Moscow, Europe/Paris, Europe/Prague, Europe/Sarajevo, Pacific/Auckland, Pacific/Fiji, Pacific/Guam, Pacific/Honolulu, Pacific/Samoa, US/Alaska, US/Central, US/Eastern, US/East-Indiana, US/Pacific, UTC)
   
7. Select your desired time zone and save changes.
8. After saving your custom variables go to RDS instances list and select your instance on which you want to apply custom timezone.
   
9. Click on Modify instance and select your new Parameter group
10. After saving the changes you need to reboot instance to apply the custom parameter group on this instance.
11. Done you have successful setup your custom timezone.