Your MySQL 5.7 and PostgreSQL 11 databases will be automatically enrolled into Amazon RDS Extended Support

Today, we are announcing that your MySQL 5.7 and PostgreSQL 11 database instances moving connected Amazon Aurora and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) will beryllium automatically enrolled into Amazon RDS Extended Support starting connected February 29, 2024.

This will thief debar unplanned downtime and compatibility issues that tin originate pinch automatically upgrading to a caller awesome version. This provides you pinch much power complete erstwhile you want to upgrade nan awesome type of your database.

This automatic enrollment whitethorn mean that you will acquisition higher charges erstwhile RDS Extended Support begins. You tin debar these charges by upgrading your database to a newer DB type earlier nan commencement of RDS Extended Support.

What is Amazon RDS Extended Support?
In September 2023, we announced Amazon RDS Extended Support, which allows you to proceed moving your database connected a awesome motor type past its RDS extremity of modular support day connected Amazon Aurora aliases Amazon RDS astatine an further cost.

Until organization extremity of life (EoL), nan MySQL and PostgreSQL unfastened root communities negociate communal vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) identification, spot generation, and bug fixes for nan respective engines. The communities merchandise a caller insignificant type each 4th containing these information patches and bug fixes until nan database awesome type reaches organization extremity of life. After nan organization extremity of life date, CVE patches aliases bug fixes are nary longer disposable and nan organization considers those engines unsupported. For example, MySQL 5.7 and PostgreSQL 11 are nary longer supported by nan communities arsenic of October and November 2023 respectively. We are grateful to nan communities for their continued support of these awesome versions and a transparent process and timeline for transitioning to nan newest awesome version.

With RDS Extended Support, Amazon Aurora and RDS takes connected engineering nan captious CVE patches and bug fixes for up to 3 years beyond a awesome version’s organization EoL. For those 3 years, Amazon Aurora and RDS will activity to place CVEs and bugs successful nan engine, make patches and merchandise them to you arsenic quickly arsenic possible. Under RDS Extended Support, we will proceed to connection support, specified that nan unfastened root community’s extremity of support for an engine’s awesome type does not time off your applications exposed to captious information vulnerabilities aliases unresolved bugs.

You mightiness wonderment why we are charging for RDS Extended Support alternatively than providing it arsenic portion of nan RDS service. It’s because nan engineering activity for maintaining information and functionality of organization EoL engines requires AWS to put developer resources for captious CVE patches and bug fixes. This is why RDS Extended Support is only charging customers who request nan further elasticity to enactment connected a type past organization EoL.

RDS Extended Support whitethorn beryllium useful to thief you meet your business requirements for your applications if you person peculiar limitations connected a circumstantial MySQL aliases PostgreSQL awesome version, specified arsenic compatibility pinch definite plugins aliases civilization features. If you are presently moving on-premises database servers aliases self-managed Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances, you tin migrate to Amazon Aurora MySQL-Compatible Edition, Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition, Amazon RDS for MySQL, Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL beyond nan organization EoL date, and proceed to usage these versions these versions pinch RDS Extended Support while benefiting from a managed service. If you request to migrate galore databases, you tin besides utilize RDS Extended Support to divided your migration into phases, ensuring a soft modulation without overwhelming IT resources.

In 2024, RDS Extended Support will beryllium disposable for RDS for MySQL awesome versions 5.7 and higher, RDS for PostgreSQL awesome versions 11 and higher, Aurora MySQL-compatible type 2 and higher, and Aurora PostgreSQL-compatible type 11 and higher. For a database of each early supported versions, spot Supported MySQL awesome versions connected Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora awesome versions successful nan AWS documentation.

Community awesome version	RDS/Aurora version	Community extremity of life date	End of RDS modular support date	Start of RDS Extended Support pricing	End of RDS Extended Support
MySQL 5.7	RDS for MySQL 5.7	October 2023	February 29, 2024	March 1, 2024	February 28, 2027
	Aurora MySQL 2		October 31, 2024	December 1, 2024
PostgreSQL 11	RDS for PostgreSQL 11	November 2023	February 29, 2024	April 1, 2024	March 31, 2027
	Aurora PostgreSQL 11

Note: RDS Extended Support for PostgreSQL 11 starts connected March 1, 2024, but will not beryllium charged until April 1, 2024. Between March 1 and March 31, each PostgreSQL 11 instances connected Aurora and RDS are covered nether RDS Extended Support. RDS Extended Support for Aurora MySQL 2 starts connected November 1, 2024, but will not beryllium charged until December 1, 2024. Between November 1 and November 30, each Aurora MySQL 2 clusters are covered nether RDS Extended Support.

RDS Extended Support is priced per vCPU per hour. Learn much astir pricing specifications and timelines for RDS Extended Support astatine Amazon Aurora pricing, RDS for MySQL pricing, and RDS for PostgreSQL pricing. For much information, spot nan blog posts astir Amazon RDS Extended Support for MySQL and PostgreSQL databases successful nan AWS Database Blog.

Why are we automatically enrolling each databases to Amazon RDS Extended Support?
We had originally informed you that RDS Extended Support would supply nan opt-in APIs and console features successful December 2023. In that announcement, we said that if you decided not to opt your database successful to RDS Extended Support, it would automatically upgrade to a newer motor type starting connected March 1, 2024. For example, you would beryllium upgraded from Aurora MySQL 2 aliases RDS for MySQL 5.7 to Aurora MySQL 3 aliases RDS for MySQL 8.0 and from Aurora PostgreSQL 11 aliases RDS for PostgreSQL 11 to Aurora PostgreSQL 15 and RDS for PostgreSQL 15, respectively.

However, we heard tons of feedback from customers that these automatic upgrades whitethorn origin their applications to acquisition breaking changes and different unpredictable behaviour betwixt awesome versions of organization DB engines. For example, an unplanned awesome type upgrade could present compatibility issues aliases downtime if applications are not fresh for MySQL 8.0 aliases PostgreSQL 15.

Automatic enrollment successful RDS Extended Support gives you further clip and much power to organize, plan, and trial your database upgrades connected your ain timeline, providing you elasticity connected erstwhile to modulation to caller awesome versions while continuing to person captious information and bug fixes from AWS.

If you’re worried astir accrued costs owed to automatic enrollment successful RDS Extended Support, you tin debar RDS Extended Support and associated charges by upgrading earlier nan extremity of RDS modular support.

How to upgrade your database to debar RDS Extended Support charges
Although RDS Extended Support helps you schedule your upgrade connected your ain timeline, sticking pinch older versions indefinitely intends missing retired connected nan champion price-performance for your database workload and incurring further costs from RDS Extended Support.

MySQL 8.0 connected Aurora MySQL, besides known arsenic Aurora MySQL 3, unlocks support for celebrated Aurora features, specified arsenic Global Database, Amazon RDS Proxy, Performance Insights, Parallel Query, and Serverless v2 deployments. Upgrading to RDS for MySQL 8.0 provides features including up to three times higher capacity versus MySQL 5.7, specified arsenic Multi-AZ cluster deployments, Optimized Reads, Optimized Writes, and support for AWS Graviton2 and Graviton3-based instances.

PostgreSQL 15 connected Aurora PostgreSQL supports nan Aurora I/O Optimized configuration, Aurora Serverless v2, Babelfish for Aurora PostgreSQL, pgvector extension, Trusted Language Extensions for PostgreSQL (TLE), and AWS Graviton3-based instances arsenic good arsenic community enhancements. Upgrading to RDS for PostgreSQL 15 provides features specified arsenic Multi-AZ DB cluster deployments, RDS Optimized Reads, HypoPG extension, pgvector extension, TLEs for PostgreSQL, and AWS Graviton3-based instances.

Major type upgrades whitethorn make database changes that are not backward-compatible pinch existing applications. You should manually modify your database lawsuit to upgrade to nan awesome version. It is powerfully recommended that you thoroughly trial immoderate awesome type upgrade connected non-production instances earlier applying it to accumulation to guarantee compatibility pinch your applications. For much accusation astir an in-place upgrade from MySQL 5.7 to 8.0, spot nan incompatibilities betwixt nan 2 versions, Aurora MySQL in-place awesome type upgrade, and RDS for MySQL upgrades successful nan AWS documentation. For nan in-place upgrade from PostgreSQL 11 to 15, you tin usage nan pg_upgrade method.

To minimize downtime during upgrades, we urge utilizing Fully Managed Blue/Green Deployments successful Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS. With conscionable a fewer steps, you tin usage Amazon RDS Blue/Green Deployments to create a separate, synchronized, afloat managed staging situation that mirrors nan accumulation environment. This involves launching a parallel greenish situation pinch precocious type replicas of your accumulation databases little version. After validating nan greenish environment, you tin displacement postulation complete to it. Then, nan bluish situation tin beryllium decommissioned. To study more, spot Blue/Green Deployments for Aurora MySQL and Aurora PostgreSQL aliases Blue/Green Deployments for RDS for MySQL and RDS for PostgreSQL successful nan AWS documentation. In astir cases, Blue/Green Deployments are nan champion action to trim downtime, isolated from for constricted cases successful Amazon Aurora aliases Amazon RDS.

For much accusation connected performing a awesome type upgrade successful each DB engine, spot nan pursuing guides successful nan AWS documentation.

• Upgrading nan MySQL DB motor for Amazon RDS
• Upgrading nan PostgreSQL DB motor for Amazon RDS
• Upgrading nan Amazon Aurora MySQL DB cluster
• Upgrading Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL DB clusters

Now available
Amazon RDS Extended Support is now disposable for each customers moving Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS instances utilizing MySQL 5.7, PostgreSQL 11, and higher awesome versions successful AWS Regions, including nan AWS GovCloud (US) Regions beyond nan extremity of nan modular support day successful 2024. You don’t request to opt successful to RDS Extended Support, and you get nan elasticity to upgrade your databases and continued support for up to 3 years.

Learn much astir RDS Extended Support successful nan Amazon Aurora User Guide and nan Amazon RDS User Guide. For pricing specifications and timelines for RDS Extended Support, spot Amazon Aurora pricing, RDS for MySQL pricing, and RDS for PostgreSQL pricing.

Please nonstop feedback to AWS re:Post for Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora aliases done your accustomed AWS Support contacts.

— Channy

Update December 22, 2023 – This station has been updated for clarity to supply nan accusation of charged play astir RDS Extended Support for our readers.