Upgrade Redis

This guide covers how to upgrade a Redis Database to a newer release.

Starting with Redis 6, the Access Control List feature was introduced by Redis. In specific scenarios, this change also changes how a Redis Database can be upgraded. To help describe when each upgrade method applies, we’ll use the term pre-ACL to describe Redis version 5 and below, and post-ACL to describe Redis version 6 and beyond.

Pre-ACL to Pre-ACL and Post-ACL to Post-ACL Upgrades

Prerequisite: Install the Aptible CLI

Collection Configuration Information

Collect information on the Database you’d like to upgrade and store it in the following environment variables for use later in the guide:

DB_HANDLE - The handle (i.e. name) of the Database.
ENVIRONMENT - The handle of the environment the Database belongs to.
VERSION - The desired Redis version. Run aptible db:versions to see a full list of options.

  DB_HANDLE='my-redis'
  ENVIRONMENT='test-environment'
  VERSION='5.0-aof'

Contact the Aptible Support Team

An Aptible team member must update the Database’s metadata to the new version in order to upgrade the Database. When contacting Aptible Support please adhere to the following rules to ensure a smooth upgrade process:

Ensure that you have Administrator Access to the Database’s Environment. If you do not, please have someone with access contact support or CC an Account Owner or Deploy Owner for approval.
Use the same email address that’s associated with your Aptible user account to contact support.
Include the configuration values above. You may run the following command to generate a request with the required information:

  echo "Please upgrade our Redis database, ${ENVIRONMENT} - ${DB_HANDLE}, to version ${VERSION}. Thank you."

Restart the Database

Once support has updated the Database version, you’ll need to restart the database to apply the upgrade. You may do so at your convenience with the aptible db:reload CLI command:

  aptible db:reload --environment $ENVIRONMENT $DB_HANDLE

Pre-ACL to Post-ACL Upgrades

Method 1: Use Replication to Orchestrate a Minimal-Downtime Upgrade

Prerequisite: Install the Aptible CLI and Redis CLI

Collect Configuration Information

Step 1: Configuration

Collect information on the Database you’d like to upgrade and store it in the following environment variables in a terminal session for use later in the guide:

OLD_HANDLE - The handle (i.e. name) of the Database.
ENVIRONMENT - The handle of the Environment the Database belongs to.

Example:

  SOURCE_HANDLE = 'old-db'
  ENVIRONMENT = 'test-environment'

Collect information for the new Database and store it in the following environment variables:

NEW_HANDLE - The handle (i.e., name) for the Database.
NEW_VERSION - The desired Redis version. Run aptible db:versions to see a full list of options. Note that there are different “flavors” of Redis for each version. Double-check that the new version has the same flavor as the original database’s version.
NEW_CONTAINER_SIZE (Optional) - The size of the new Database’s container in MB. You likely want this value to be the same as the original database’s container size. See the Database Scaling documentation for a full list of supported container sizes.
NEW_DISK_SIZE (Optional) - The size of the new Database’s disk in GB. You likely want this value to be the same as the original database’s disk size.

Example:

  NEW_HANDLE = 'upgrade-test'
  NEW_VERSION = '7.0'
  NEW_CONTAINER_SIZE = 2048
  NEW_DISK_SIZE = 10

Provision the new Database

Create the new Database using aptible db:create.

Example:

  aptible db:create "$NEW_HANDLE" \
  --type "redis" \
  --version "$NEW_VERSION" \
  --container-size $NEW_CONTAINER_SIZE \
  --disk-size $NEW_DISK_SIZE \
  --environment "$ENVIRONMENT"

Tunnel into the new Database

In a separate terminal, create a Database Tunnel to the new Database using the aptible db:tunnel command.

Example:

  aptible db:tunnel "$NEW_HANDLE" --environment "$ENVIRONMENT"

The tunnel will block the current terminal until it’s stopped. Collect the tunnel’s full URL, which is printed by aptible db:tunnel, and store it in the NEW_URL environment variable in the original terminal.

Example:

  NEW_URL ='redis://aptible:pa$word@localhost.aptible.in:6379'

Retrieve the Old Database's Database Credentials

To initialize replication, you’ll need the Database Credentials of the old database. We’ll refer to these values as the following:

OLD_HOST
OLD_PORT
OLD_PASSWORD

Connect to the New Database

Using the Redis CLI in the original terminal, connect to the new database:

  redis-cli -u $NEW_URL

Initialize Replication

Using the variables from Step 4, run the following commands on the new database to initialize replication.

  REPLICA OF $OLD_HOST $OLD_PORT
  CONFIG SET masterauth $OLD_PASSWORD

Cutover to the New Database

When you’re ready to cutover, point your Apps to the new Database and run REPLICAOF NO ONE via the Redis CLI to stop replication. Finally, deprovision the old database using the command aptible db:deprovision.

Method 2: Dump and Restore to a new Redis Database

We recommend Method 1 above, but you can also dump and restore to upgrade if you’d like. This method introduces extra downtime, as you must take your database offline before conducting the dump to prevent new writes and data loss.

Prerequisite: Install the Aptible CLI, Redis CLI, and rdb tool

Collection Configuration Information

Collect information on the Database you’d like to upgrade and store it in the following environment variables in a terminal session for use later in the guide:

OLD_HANDLE - The handle (i.e. name) of the Database.
ENVIRONMENT - The handle of the Environment the Database belongs to

Example:

  SOURCE_HANDLE = 'old-db'
  ENVIRONMENT = 'test-environment'

Collect information for the new Database and store it in the following environment variables:

NEW_HANDLE - The handle (i.e., name) for the Database.
NEW_VERSION - The desired Redis version. Run aptible db:versions to see a full list of options. Note that there are different “flavors” of Redis for each version. Double-check that the new version has the same flavor as the original database’s version.
NEW_CONTAINER_SIZE (Optional) - The size of the new Database’s container in MB. You likely want this value to be the same as the original database’s container size. See the Database Scaling documentation for a full list of supported container sizes.
NEW_DISK_SIZE (Optional) - The size of the new Database’s disk in GB. You likely want this value to be the same as the original database’s disk size.

Example:

  NEW_HANDLE = 'upgrade-test'
  NEW_VERSION = '7.0'
  NEW_CONTAINER_SIZE = 2048
  NEW_DISK_SIZE = 10

Provision the New Database

Create the new Database using aptible db:create.

Example:

  aptible db:create "$NEW_HANDLE" \
  --type "redis" \
  --version "$NEW_VERSION" \
  --container - size $NEW_CONTAINER_SIZE \
  --disk - size $NEW_DISK_SIZE \
  --environment "$ENVIRONMENT"

Tunnel into the Old Database

In a separate terminal, create a Database Tunnel to the old Database using the aptible db:tunnel command.

Example:

  aptible db:tunnel "$NEW_HANDLE" --environment "$ENVIRONMENT"

The tunnel will block the current terminal until it’s stopped. Collect the tunnel’s full URL, which is printed by aptible db:tunnel, and store it in the OLD_URL environment variable in the original terminal.

Example:

  OLD_URL = 'redis://aptible:pa$word@localhost.aptible.in:6379'

Dump the Old Database

Dump the old database to a file locally using rdb and the Redis CLI.

Example:

  redis-cli -u $OLD_URL --rdb dump.rdb

Tunnel into the New Database

In a separate terminal, create a Database Tunnel to the new Database using the aptible db:tunnel command, and save the Connection URL as NEW_URL.

Restore the Redis Dump using rdb

Using the rdb tool, restore the dump to the new Database.

  rdb --command protocol dump.rdb | redis - cli - u $NEW_URL--pipe

Cutover to the New Database

Point your Apps and other resources to your new database and deprovision the old database using the command aptible db:deprovision.

How to Guides

Troubleshooting