In-place Postgres Major Version Upgrades v4

Upgrading a BDR Node to a newer major version of Postgres is possible using the command-line utility bdr_pg_upgrade.

bdr_pg_upgrade internally uses the standard pg_upgrade with BDR specific logic to ensure a smooth upgrade.

Terminology

Various terminology is used in this documentation to describe the upgrade process and components involved.

old cluster - The existing Postgres cluster node to be upgraded, which data will be migrated from.

new cluster - The new Postgres cluster, which data will be migrated to. This cluster node must be one (1) major version ahead of the old cluster.

Precautions

Standard Postgres major version upgrade precautions apply, including the fact that all the requirements for pg_upgrade must be met by both clusters.

Additionaly, bdr_pg_upgrade should not be used if there are other tools using replication slots and replication origins, only BDR slots and origins will be restored after the upgrade.

There are several prerequisites for bdr_pg_upgrade that have to be met:

• Applications using the old cluster have been disconnected, it can for example, be redirected to another node in the cluster
• Peer authentication is configured for both clusters, bdr_pg_upgrade requires peer authentication
• BDR versions on both clusters must be exactly the same and must be version 4.1.0 or above
• The new cluster must be in a shutdown state
• BDR packages must be installed in the new cluster
• The new cluster must be already initialized and configured as needed to match the old cluster configuration
• Databases, tables, and other objects must not exist in the new cluster

It is also recommended to have the old cluster up prior to running bdr_pg_upgrade as the CLI will start the old cluster if it is shutdown.

Usage

To upgrade to a newer major version of Postgres, the new version must first be installed.

bdr_pg_upgrade command-line

bdr_pg_upgrade passes all parameters to pg_upgrade. Therefore, you can specify any parameters supported by pg_upgrade.

Synopsis

bdr_pg_upgrade [OPTION] ...

Options

In addition to the options for pg_upgrade, the following parameters are can be passed to bdr_pg_upgrade:

• -b, --old-bindir - old cluster bin directory (required)
• -B, --new-bindir- new cluster bin directory (required)
• -d, --old-datadir - old cluster data directory (required)
• -D, --new-datadir - REQUIRED new cluster data directory (required)
• --database - BDR database name (required)
• -p, --old-port - old cluster port number
• -s, --socketdir - directory to use for postmaster sockets during upgrade
• --check- only perform checks, do not modify clusters

Environment Variables

Environment variables can be used in place of command line parameters.

• PGBINOLD - old cluster bin directory
• PGBINNEW - new cluster bin directory
• PGDATAOLD - old cluster data directory
• PGDATANEW - new cluster data directory
• PGPORTOLD - old cluster port number
• PGSOCKETDIR - directory to use for postmaster sockets during upgrade

Example

Given a scenario where:

• Old cluster bin directory is /usr/lib/postgresql/13/bin
• New cluster bin directory is /usr/lib/postgresql/14/bin
• Old cluster data directory is /var/lib/postgresql/13/main
• New cluster data directory is /var/lib/postgresql/14/main
• Database name is bdrdb

The following command could be used to upgrade the cluster:

bdr_pg_upgrade \
--old-bindir /usr/lib/postgresql/13/bin \
--new-bindir /usr/lib/postgresql/14/bin \
--old-datadir /var/lib/postgresql/13/main \
--new-datadir /var/lib/postgresql/14/main \
--database bdrdb

Steps Performed

Steps performed when running bdr_pg_upgrade.

BDR Postgres Checks

pg_upgrade Steps

Standard pg_upgrade steps are performed

BDR Post-Upgrade Steps

• On this page
• Terminology
• Precautions
• Usage