I'm getting ready to upgrade to PostgreSQL 18 and I'm looking for some real-world insights on how to prepare for it. The official AWS documentation feels lacking, and I'd really appreciate seeing some thoughtful articles or blogs detailing people's experiences. What kind of pitfalls did you run into? Any lessons learned or best practices to share? I have a few concerns about the upgrade process: 1. It seems like rolling back might lead to data loss and there's not much guidance on handling that. 2. I'm worried about the compatibility with CloudFormation and CDK, especially if I have to implement a blue-green deployment but the new instance ends up being an imported resource. 3. Do I make the new instance the updated version right away or should I upgrade in place once it's launched? I'm unsure how to approach this depending on potential breaking changes or new features. 4. How much downtime can I realistically expect during the switch? 5. When testing the new instance before going live, how do I ensure its performance will match expectations? The lazy loading documentation confuses me on this point. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
One more tip: while you can only read during testing, try to have your write operations queued up if needed, so you're ready to switch seamlessly when you do go live. And absolutely, let your credits accumulate before making any significant changes if you're on a credit-based instance. That way, you won't run into unexpected performance issues!
It sounds like you're diving into a bit of a tricky upgrade! For your concerns: 1. You're right about the potential data loss when rolling back; it’s essential to have a solid backup strategy in place. 2. As for the compatibility with CloudFormation, a lot of users have faced issues here, so it’s something to keep in mind during your planning. 3. Typically, it’s best to upgrade to the new version right away if you’re confident about it, but if there’s uncertainty, maybe try the in-place upgrade first. 4. Downtime usually varies, but many have seen anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours depending on their setup. 5. Testing performance can be tricky, and while lazy loading does complicate things, you can simulate load on your new instance to get a feel for the performance. It might not be 100% accurate, but it’ll give you a better idea than nothing! Hope this helps!
You might also want to consider checking out a few resources like AWS case studies or user forums. They often share valuable insights on upgrades. Plus, remember that testing on the green instance isn't just about load; try out your most complex queries to see how they perform—this will help catch any major issues before going live. Just keep in mind that if you’re using an RDS Proxy, it won’t be compatible with blue-green deployments, which is an essential detail to be aware of! Good luck with the upgrade!

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