What’s the best strategy for upgrading MySQL and switching to production?

Setting up a staging environment that mirrors your production setup is a smart move. Test everything there before going live. It’s a classic approach that many have successfully used over the years. Also, just a tip—punctuation in your posts can really help with clarity!

If you're wary about potential issues, you might want to do a blue-green switch. That involves setting up a new environment, getting everything up and running, and then switching to it, while decommissioning the old one afterwards. Yes, it's more costly because you’ll need double the hardware but it minimizes downtime.

There are a few options, but I need more context about your server setup. Are your database and website running on separate servers, or are they all on one? That could impact how you proceed.

This is a great chance to rethink your infrastructure. Consider following 2026 best practices: separate accounts for development, testing, acceptance, and production. Using Infrastructure as Code, 12-factor applications, and tools like AMI Builder for your EC2 instances will make a big difference. Once you’ve set everything up, you can easily switch your Route53 records to the new environment and decommission the old one.

I’d definitely recommend making your pre-prod environment as close to production as possible. Use snapshots or AMIs to test real data and configurations. Proceed with the upgrades in this order: MySQL first, then PHP, and finally the OS. Verify each step to catch any issues early. For moving to production, a blue-green deployment strategy works well. Just set up the upgraded environment, run tests, and then switch traffic. Don’t forget to have backups and a rollback plan ready!