Rafal's picture
Rafal - Tue, 2013/11/26 - 12:04

Hello,

 

I've installed yours Turnkey PostgreSQL on EC2 by using AWS marketplace. Everything is working just fine, but I have some questions after one month of using:

 

- is it possible to upgrade PostgreSQL to 9.1? This is most crucial for me actually

- can I manage instances of PostgreSQL installed by marketplace with Turnkey Hub? If so, how should I add keys?

- how long after official release does it take to show in marketplace so I can upgrade?

 

I'm sorry if those questions has been anywhere before, I've tried to search and looked all over the FAQs, but didn't find any answer.

 

Best,

Forum: 
Support
Tags: 
postgresql
amazon
aws
Jeremy Davis's picture

Jeremy Davis - Sun, 2013/12/01 - 22:31

I'm not sure what is available via the marketplace, but the TKL Hub (which is a much better way to run appliances on AWS IMO) will give you v13 by default (unless you specifically choose v12.1).

Once you are running v13.0 you should already have PostgreSQL 9.1...

According to the TKL appliance page it has the latest Debian Wheezy package and according to Debian package search that is PostgreSQL 9.1.

If you want a newer version than that it seems that PostgreSQL themselves provide an upstream repo of PostgreSQL 9.3, but I have no idea of how stable it is nor have I tested it...

Rafal's picture

Rafal - Wed, 2013/11/27 - 00:13

No, the official one on marketplace is 12.1. And unfortunately I can't change database to TurnekyHub, because it's already production. 

That's why the last question is asked. And maybe there is another way to upgrade PostgreSQL?

 

Thanks for help,

Rafal

Jeremy Davis's picture

Jeremy Davis - Sun, 2013/12/01 - 22:50

And I don't understand what you mean when you say that you can't change database to TKL Hub because it's in production... Why can't you migrate to a v13 appliance in the Hub (using TKLBAM as I suggest below)?

The Hub is much more user friendly IMO and will mean that in future you have new versions as soon as they are released by TKL (and not have to wait until Amazon updates the marketplace AMIs).

Here's what I would do for a production system:

  1. If you don't already have one I would strongly suggest purcahse of an elastic IP (in essence a static IP for AWS)
  2. Do a full (not incremental) TKLBAM backup of your current appliance
  3. Restore your backup to a v13 test instance - documenting as you go
  4. Test and confirm everything works as it should and/or tweak your test instance - documenting everything you adjust (as relevant)
  5. Destroy the test instance
  6. Repeat steps 1 to 3 again, this time following your documentation and timing how long the whole process takes (ensure that you run another full TKLBAM backup - not an incremental)
  7. Select a timeframe that will cause the least interuption for your users (weekend? overnight?) and inform your user base what will be happening and how long it should take (how long step 5 took + allow for other factors such as 10% - depending on the size of your DB I would think half an hour should be totally adequite but that is only a guesstimate). If the site is used by the public get them to follow you on Twitter or similar so in a worst case scenario you can keep them in the loop of what is going on. If used privately/internally email is probably sufficient
  8. When the decided time comes, lock your server/services 'for maintenance'
  9. Repeat step 6 but this time also transition your elastic IP
  10. Unlock everything and you are good to go! :)

I guess it's a bit of mucking around but IMO it is the best way to go if you want PostgreSQL 9.1 now. Reality is that you'll need to follow this (or similar) process within the next 5 months anyway as security updates for Squeeze will end ~April 2014. Installing PSQL into your current appliance will not be as stable and reliable and will cause additional complexity in migrating to TKL v13 later and will basically be wasted effort in the long run...

Rafal's picture

Rafal - Fri, 2013/11/29 - 12:29

Is there any possibility to contact administrators then? I can't find any information and I quite need those answers :)

Jeremy Davis's picture

Jeremy Davis - Fri, 2013/11/29 - 15:24

TKLBAM was designed to migrate...

You should be run a TKLBAM backup and then restore that backup to a fresh v13 server (launched from the Hub). I stongly suggest that you document everything you do and thoughly test your respored server before you destroy the old one. TKLBAM is good, but you can never be sure...

There are other options but that will most likely be your most straight forward and easy solution... Or you could just wait for Amazon to make them apear in the marketplace... Only Amazon knows when that will be...

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