Versioning policy

When you provision a Cloud Databases instance, you can choose from the versions currently available on IBM Cloud. Find the latest versions from the catalog pages, the Cloud Databases CLI plug-in, or the Cloud Databases API.

Major versions defined

Major versions for Cloud Databases
Service	Versioning schema	Next known end of life version and date	Preferred major version	End of life procedure
Databases for MongoDB	Major versions are the first two numbers in a `major.x.patch` version number. In cases where `x` is even, it is a stable release suitable for production. Even `x` versions are the only ones available on Cloud Databases.	v6, TBD	v6.0	Automatically upgraded in place to next Major version
Databases for Elasticsearch	Major versions are the first two numbers in a `release.version.maintenance` version number.	v8.7, TBD	v8.12	Automatically upgraded in place to next Major version
Databases for Redis	Major versions are the first number in a `major.minor.patch` version number.	v6.0, 25 October 2024	v7.2	Automatically upgraded in place to next Major version 6.2
Databases for PostgreSQL	The major version is defined by the first number in the version number.	v12, 22 January 2025, v13, 22 October 2025	v16	Automatically upgraded in place to next major version 13
Databases for MySQL	Major versions are the first two numbers in a `major.x.patch` version number.	v8.0, April 2026	v8.0	Backup taken and access removed
Messages for RabbitMQ	Major versions are the first two numbers in a `major.x.patch` version number.	v3.12, 30 April 2025	v3.13	Backup taken and access removed
Databases for EnterpriseDB	The major version is defined by the first number in the version number.	v12, TBD	v12	Backup is taken and access is removed
Databases for etcd	Major versions are the first number in a `major.minor.patch` version number.	End of Service/Full deprecation on 15 October 2025	v3.5	Permanently disabled and deprovisioned. Refer to critical timelines.

Deprecation of major versions

Cloud Databases tries to support a major version for 3 years from its release. If a version is deprecated or marked end of life by the open source project owners, Cloud Databases takes steps to deprecate that version.

When a major version is deprecated, a six-month transition window is opened for current users of the deprecated version. At the beginning of the period, we seek to contact users affected by the deprecation. During the six-month transition window, users are able to initiate an upgrade to a supported major version. Existing instances continue to run as normal.

Restoration of existing instances into new instances of the deprecated major version is available during the six-month deprecation, although we recommend upgrading to a nondeprecated major version as soon as possible.

At the end of the transition window, deprecated major versions cannot be deployed on Cloud Databases. A backup of the instance is taken and access to instances that are running a deprecated version is removed or instances are automatically upgraded to the next major version. The backup is available to be restored into a new supported version.

Failure to act can result in compatibility issues with your apps when IBM upgrades in-place. On rare occasions, failure can result, impacting your availability. If a failure occurs, the instance is disabled, and you need to restore from backup. We recommend self-migrating before the end of support date.

Version tags

Cloud Databases Version Tags
Version tag	Description
Preferred	The recommended and default version for all new instances. It's the most stable, up-to-date version from both an instance-level and service-level perspective.
Preview	A preview version is released for a limited time to try available functions. Often it is the newest available version available from the project maintainers in preparation for making it the "Preferred" version. While deployable, preview versions are not suitable for production, as they are excluded from service-level agreements and support. Also, a preview version isn't guaranteed to become a production-level release. IBM reserves the right to ask a customer to delete an instance that uses a preview version.
Deprecated	Old versions and versions near their end of life dates are marked as "Deprecated". Provisions and restores of instances that run a deprecated version are still available and instances that run a deprecated version continue to be supported. However, you are encouraged to upgrade to the new "Preferred" version as deprecated versions are eventually removed from IBM Cloud and are no longer provisionable, restorable, or supported.
Untagged	Untagged versions are fully supported and deployable versions. They are usually slightly older than the current preferred version, but they are still supported by the project maintainers. They continue to be supported on Cloud Databases instances until their deprecation is announced.
Hidden	A hidden version cannot be provisioned. Existing instances that are using a version marked as hidden are still able to be restored to the hidden version.

Minor versions

IBM Cloud is committed to providing secure, up-to-date versions of services. As updates are released by project maintainers, they are tested, evaluated, and released to Cloud Databases instances. Your instance's minor version and patch updates are handled automatically and are not user configurable.

Major versioning end of life

You receive multiple notifications when a major version reaches its end of life. You can typically expect:

A Cloud status page announcement, for example: End of support notices.
An announcement in your service's Release Notes, for example: IBM Cloud® Databases for PostgreSQL version 12 end of life on January 22, 2025.
A notification by email through the IBM API. This email contains a Notifications link that takes you to a Notifications Management page. Make sure that these announcements are not being caught by your email service's spam filter. For more information, see Setting up distribution lists for IBM Cloud notifications.

For more information, see Programmatic methods for checking version status.

Any actions taken after an EOL date happen over several days after the EOL date. We try, but cannot guarantee, to make these upgrades outside of business hours in the local regions. If you want more control over the upgrade process of your instance, we recommend that you upgrade following our backup and restore process before the EOL date of your version.

Programmatic methods for checking version status

On the CLI the following Cloud Databases deployables-show command shows deployable service types, specifically the available versions and their preferred or stable status.

ibmcloud cdb deployables-show [--stable] [--preferred] [--json]

Check the status of a major version by reviewing the output of the deployable command, specifically Status and Preferred. The following output example shows that version 4.4 is the Preferred version and version 4.2's Status is deprecated.

Service Type:  mongodb
Version   Status       Preferred
4.4       stable       true
4.2       deprecated   false

On the Cloud Databases API the deployables endpoint returns all deployable services. Use the version parameter to return the version number.

GET /v5/ibm/deployables

Major versions and Terraform

Note that you cannot currently upgrade to a new major version using Terraform. Changing the version number on a Terraform script could lead to your data being destroyed. The recommended method of version upgrade is restoring a backup into a new deployment with the latest version. For more information, see Restoring a backup.