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This document is a step-by-step procedure for upgrading from ScyllaDB 5.4 to ScyllaDB Enterpise 2024.1, and rollback to version 5.4 if required.
This guide covers upgrading ScyllaDB on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) CentOS, Debian, and Ubuntu. See OS Support by Platform and Version for information about supported versions.
This guide also applies when you’re upgrading ScyllaDB Enterprise official image on EC2, GCP, or Azure.
A ScyllaDB upgrade is a rolling procedure that does not require full cluster shutdown. For each of the nodes in the cluster, you will:
Check that the cluster’s schema is synchronized
Drain the node and backup the data
Backup the configuration file
Stop ScyllaDB
Download and install new ScyllaDB packages
Start ScyllaDB
Validate that the upgrade was successful
Caution
Apply the procedure serially on each node. Do not move to the next node before validating that the node you upgraded is up and running the new version.
During the rolling upgrade, it is highly recommended:
Not to use the new 2024.1 features.
Not to run administration functions, like repairs, refresh, rebuild, or add or remove nodes. See sctool for suspending ScyllaDB Manager’s scheduled or running repairs.
Not to apply schema changes.
Note
Before upgrading, make sure to use the latest ScyllaDB Monitoring stack.
Make sure that all nodes have the schema synchronized before upgrade. The upgrade procedure will fail if there is a schema disagreement between nodes.
nodetool describecluster
Before any major procedure, like an upgrade, it is recommended to backup all
the data to an external device. In ScyllaDB, you can backup the data using
the nodetool snapshot command. For each node in the cluster, run
the following command:
nodetool drain
nodetool snapshot
Take note of the directory name that nodetool gives you, and copy all the directories
having that name under /var/lib/scylla to a backup device.
When the upgrade is completed on all nodes, remove the snapshot with the
nodetool clearsnapshot -t <snapshot> command to prevent running out of space.
sudo cp -a /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml.backup-src
sudo service scylla-server stop
Before upgrading, check what version you are running now using scylla --version.
You should use the same version as this version in case you want to rollback
the upgrade. If you are not running a 5.4.x version, stop right here!
This guide only covers 5.4.x to 2024.1.y upgrades.
To upgrade ScyllaDB:
Configure Java 1.8:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install -y openjdk-8-jre-headless sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-1.8.0-openjdk-amd64
Install the new ScyllaDB version:
sudo apt-get clean all sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get remove scylla\* sudo apt-get install scylla-enterprise sudo systemctl daemon-reload
Answer ‘y’ to the first two questions.
To upgrade ScyllaDB:
Update the ScyllaDB rpm repo to 2024.1.
Install the new ScyllaDB version:
sudo yum clean all sudo rm -rf /var/cache/yum sudo yum remove scylla\* sudo yum install scylla-enterprise
Installing the New Version on Cloud
If you’re using the ScyllaDB official image (recommended), see the Debian/Ubuntu tab for upgrade instructions. If you’re using your own image and hae installed ScyllaDB packages for Ubuntu or Debian, you need to apply an extended upgrade procedure:
Update the ScyllaDB deb repo (see above).
Configure Java 1.8 (see above).
Install the new ScyllaDB version with the additional
scylla-enterprise-machine-image package:
sudo apt-get clean all
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade scylla-enterprise
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade scylla-enterprise-machine-image
Run scylla_setup without running io_setup.
Run sudo /opt/scylladb/scylla-machine-image/scylla_cloud_io_setup.
sudo service scylla-server start
Check cluster status with nodetool status and make sure all nodes, including
the one you just upgraded, are in UN status.
Use curl -X GET "http://localhost:10000/storage_service/scylla_release_version"
to check the ScyllaDB version. Validate that the version matches the one you upgraded to.
Check scylla-server log (using journalctl _COMM=scylla) and /var/log/syslog
to validate there are no new errors in the log.
Check again after two minutes to validate that no new issues are introduced.
Once you are sure the node upgrade was successful, move to the next node in the cluster.
Note
Execute the following commands one node at a time, moving to the next node only after the rollback procedure is completed successfully.
The following procedure describes a rollback from ScyllaDB 2024.1.x to 5.4.y. Apply this procedure if an upgrade from 5.4 to 2024.1 failed before completing on all nodes. Use this procedure only for nodes you upgraded to 2024.1.
Warning
The rollback procedure can only be applied if some nodes have not been upgraded to 2024.1 yet. As soon as the last node in the rolling upgrade procedure is started with 2024.1, rollback becomes impossible. At that point, the only way to restore a cluster to 5.4 is by restoring it from backup.
ScyllaDB rollback is a rolling procedure that does not require a full cluster shutdown. For each of the nodes you rollback to 5.4 you will:
Drain the node and stop ScyllaDB
Retrieve the old ScyllaDB packages
Restore the configuration file
Restore system tables
Reload systemd configuration
Restart ScyllaDB
Validate the rollback success
Apply the following procedure serially on each node. Do not move to the next node before validating that the rollback was successful and the node is up and running the old version.
nodetool drain
sudo service scylla-server stop
Remove the old repo file.
sudo rm -rf /etc/apt/sources.list.d/scylla.list
Install:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get remove scylla\* -y sudo apt-get install scylla
Answer ‘y’ to the first two questions.
Remove the old repo file.
sudo rm -rf /etc/yum.repos.d/scylla.repo
Update the ScyllaDB rpm repo to 5.4.
Install:
sudo yum clean all sudo yum remove scylla\* sudo yum install scylla
Note
If you are running a ScyllaDB Enterprise official image (for EC2 AMI, GCP, or Azure), follow the instructions for Ubuntu.
sudo rm -rf /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml
sudo cp -a /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml.backup-src | /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml
Restore all tables of system and system_schema from the previous snapshot because 2024.1 uses a different set of system tables. See Restore from a Backup and Incremental Backup for reference.
cd /var/lib/scylla/data/keyspace_name/table_name-UUID/
sudo find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -exec sudo rm -f "{}" +
cd /var/lib/scylla/data/keyspace_name/table_name-UUID/snapshots/<snapshot_name>/
sudo cp -r * /var/lib/scylla/data/keyspace_name/table_name-UUID/
sudo chown -R scylla:scylla /var/lib/scylla/data/keyspace_name/table_name-UUID/
You must reload the unit file if the systemd unit file is changed.
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo service scylla-server start
Check the upgrade instructions above for validation. Once you are sure the node rollback is successful, move to the next node in the cluster.