Connect Redshift, PostgreSQL, and AlloyDB
The following fields are required when creating a Postgres, Redshift, or AlloyDB connection:
Field | Description | Examples |
---|---|---|
Host Name | The hostname of the Postgres, Redshift, or AlloyDB database to connect to. This can either be a hostname or an IP address. | xxx.us-east-1.amazonaws.com |
Port | Usually 5432 (Postgres) or 5439 (Redshift) | 5439 |
Database | The logical database to connect to and run queries against. | analytics |
Note: When you set up a Redshift or Postgres connection in dbt Cloud, SSL-related parameters aren't available as inputs.

Connecting via an SSH Tunnel
To connect to a Postgres, Redshift, or AlloyDB instance via an SSH tunnel, select the Use SSH Tunnel option when creating your connection. When configuring the tunnel, you must supply the hostname, username, and port for the bastion server.
Once the connection is saved, a public key will be generated and displayed for the Connection. You can copy this public key to the bastion server to authorize dbt Cloud to connect to your database via the bastion server.

About the Bastion server in AWS
What is a Bastion server?
dbt Cloud only sends queries and doesn't transmit large data volumes. This means the bastion server can run on an AWS instance of any size, like a t2.small instance or t2.micro.
Make sure the location of the instance is the same Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) as the Redshift instance, and configure the security group for the bastion server to ensure that it's able to connect to the warehouse port.
Configuring the Bastion Server in AWS
To configure the SSH tunnel in dbt Cloud, you'll need to provide the hostname/IP of your bastion server, username, and port, of your choosing, that dbt Cloud will connect to. Review the following steps:
- Verify the bastion server has its network security rules set up to accept connections from the dbt Cloud IP addresses on whatever port you configured.
- Set up the user account by using the bastion servers instance's CLI, The following example uses the username
dbtcloud:
sudo groupadd dbtcloud
sudo useradd -m -g dbtcloud dbtcloud
sudo su - dbtcloud
mkdir ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
touch ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
- Copy and paste the dbt Cloud generated public key, into the authorized_keys file.
The Bastion server should now be ready for dbt Cloud to use as a tunnel into the Redshift environment.
Configuration
To learn how to optimize performance with data platform-specific configurations in dbt Cloud, refer to Redshift-specific configuration.