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DBOD News

2024-06-05

Dear DBOD users,

MySQL 8.4 LTS will be released soon to DBOD users. For upgrading your instance please take a look at upgrade guide for preparing your instances for the next upgrade campaign. MySQL is encouraging people to move away from the insecure mysql_native_password and towards caching_sha2_password. Most of our users are still using mysql_native_password.

2024-04-23

Dear DBOD users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. Minor upgrade campaign closing by the end of April 2024

    Further info about what's happening and how to proceed at OTG0147592 and OTG0147596

    Warning

    Only one week left to minor upgrade your instance and avoid it being retired from the service

  2. Upgrades, cloning and other operations can timeout while waiting to start

    Until now some tasks like upgrading or cloning of an instance were going to start a job immediately, once triggered from the DBOD web interface.

    Behind the scenes, these jobs can execute a number of operations in our infrastructre and in the host where the instance is running.

    For example, in some cases, one or more puppet runs are required to apply changes to the host and the instance configuration.

    Random failures can occur when multiple jobs, running concurrently on the same host, are attempting to disable, run or enable puppet, in a random order, at the same time.

    With hundreds of instances in need of an upgrade and/or cloning for testing purposes, the probability of clashing among instances sharing the same host are not negligible.

    We are well aware that such failures can be quite annoying for DBOD users, but even more they are burdening our team with SNOW tickets and interventions to fix and restart the requested operations.

    With the aim of mitigating the impact and reduce the occurrence of failures, we have implemented a lock logic, which should sequence the access to the host of those operations requiring exclusive access.

    This means that when a job has has locked the host, others jobs will queue and attempt multiple times to get the lock, until the lock is acquired or a timeout is expired or the maximum number of attempts is reached.

    Info

    For most operations the timeout is set to 30 minutes: if an upgrade is triggered, but another operation has acquired the lock on the host, the upgrade will retry multiple times, but eventually will fail, after 30 minutes.

    In our intentions, 30 minutes should be a good compromise between having some chances of getting the lock, while allowing an owner to cancel a planned OTG, if the upgrade did not start in time.

    On the other hand, if strict time constraints are not an issue, it should be safe retrying a few times the failed operation, provided it failed just after 30 minutes, until it goes through.

    Warning

    If you are in doubt or can not afford to retry more, please get in touch by opening a SNOW ticket with our team

    This is our first attempt (and iteration) at tackling these issues. We have already some idea for improving the solution but we have also a number of priorities and limited resources.

    Nevertheless, we are always glad to hear from our users, especially to receiving constructive feedbacks and suggestions, which we strive to take in consideration.

  3. DB on demand Survey well ongoing but still open

    Many people have already filled the DB on demand survey. Beside answering structured questions, there are plenty of possibilities to write down, in complete freedom, what is more important to you, your team, project or service.

    Please do not miss the opportunity to make your voice heard, and influence the evolution of the service, according to your needs, requirements, insights and suggestions.

2023-12-11

Dear DBOD users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. Instance Requests

    PostgreSQL 13.13, 14.10 and MySQL 8.0.35 are now available for new instances creation

  2. DB Server Versions

    The choices currently available for your selection in the Resources Portal are:

    • MySQL 8.0.35 (*) (EOL: v8 Apr 2026)
    • PostgreSQL 13.13 (EOL: v13 Nov 13, 2025)
    • PostgreSQL 14.10 (*) (EOL: v14 Nov 26, 2026)
    • InfluxDB 1.8.3 (*) InfluxDB 1.8.3 supports the Flux language and provides HTTP endpoints for Prometheus remote reads and writes.

    (*) Recommended for new instances

    NB: EOL dates are referring to the official dates published by the maintainers, support from DBOD might cease before or slightly after the official EOL

2023-08-15

Dear DBOD users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. DBOD ceases support of MySQL 5.7, PostgreSQL 11 and 12 by the end of September 2023

    As explained during the ASDF session of March 30th 2023 during the DBOD Works & Deadlines 2023 talk, the database on demand service will be ceasing support of MySQL 5.7, PostgreSQL 11 and 12 by the end of September 2023.

    • MySQL 5.7 will reach its EOL on October the 21st, 2023
    • PostgreSQL 11 will reach its EOL on November the 9th,2023
    • PostgreSQL 12 will reach its EOL on November the 14th, 2024 but DBOD will cease its support by the end of September 2023 in order to adapt to the DBOD versioning policy explained during the ASDF session of March 30th 2023.

    We encourage our users to carry out the upgrade of the instances running on any of the aforementioned versions before the end of September 2023.

    Warning

    Any instance remaining on any of these versions on the 1st of October 2023 will be set to expire on the 1st of November 2023.

  2. MySQL Innovation and Long-Term Support (LTS) versions

    On March 2023, during the MySQL summit 2023, Oracle announced a new MySQL Release Model: LTS & Innovation Releases.

The patch releases of MySQL 5.7 and previous releases were focused on bugfix and security patches. That changed in MySQL 8.0 with the continuous delivery model in that patch releases also contained new features. That allowed MySQL to release new features to users more frequently rather than only being able to release features every few years. However, we understand that this approach can cause challenges for projects and applications that require only critical patches with less frequent behavior changes. We listened to your feedback and observed industry trends, and we are now transitioning to a versioning model where you can choose between Innovation and Long-Term Support (LTS) releases.

The database on demand service will only support LTS releases and therefore the MySQL 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3 series won't be supported.

2022-12-05

Dear DBOD Users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. Instance Requests

    PostgreSQL 14.6 is now available for new instances creation in CentOS 8 Stream hosts.

  2. DB Server Versions

    The choices currently available for your selection in the Resources Portal are:

    • MySQL 5.7.37 (EOL: v5.7 Oct 21, 2023)
    • MySQL 8.0.28 (*) (EOL: v8 Apr 2026)
    • PostgreSQL 11.18 (EOL: v11 Nov 9, 2023)
    • PostgreSQL 12.13 (EOL: v12 Nov 14, 2024)
    • PostgreSQL 13.9 (EOL: v13 Nov 13, 2025)
    • PostgreSQL 14.6 (*) (EOL: v14 Nov 26, 2026)
    • InfluxDB 1.8.3 (*) InfluxDB 1.8.3 supports the Flux language and provides HTTP endpoints for Prometheus remote reads and writes.

    (*) Recommended for new instances

    NB: EOL dates are referring to the official dates published by the maintainers, support from DBOD might cease before or slightly after the official EOL

  3. Server Upgrades

    • Upgrades to PostgreSQL v13 and v14 can be enabled automatically but some might be available only on request due to the pre-requisite to migrate the instance from a CentOS 7 to a CentOS 8 Stream host.
    • Please be aware the DBOD support of PostgreSQL v11 will cease by the end of 2023. You are strongly advised to start testing and planning the upgrade to v12 or a more recent version well in advance!

2022-11-29

Dear DBOD users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. Mandatory PostgreSQL minor upgrades for v11, v12 and v13 to be executed by the end of January 2023

    You are strongly recommended to upgrade your PostgreSQL instance(s) to the latest minor relase available for the corresponding major version by the end of January 2023 and thus:

    • PostgreSQL 11.15 -> 11.18 (EOL: v11 Nov 9, 2023)
    • PostgreSQL 12.10 -> 12.13 (EOL: v12 Nov 14, 2024)
    • PostgreSQL 13.6 -> 13.9(*) (EOL: v13 Nov 13, 2025)

    (*) Recommended for new instances

    During the first two weeks of February 2023 the upgrade of any remaining instance will be forced.

    NB: EOL dates are referring to the official dates published by the maintainers, support from DBOD might cease before or slightly after the official EOL

  2. Mandatory PostgreSQL v11 (EOL) major upgrade to be executed by the end of 2023

    DBOD support of PostgreSQL v11 will be discontinued at any time, soon after the end of 2023.

    You are strongly recommended to upgrade your PostgreSQL v11 instance(s) to a later version BEFORE the end of 2023.

    You can upgrade from v11 to any later version available in DBOD in STEPS i.e. initially from v11 to v12 then from v12 to v13 and so on.

    The process is driven by a chain of upgrade rules i.e. at the end of any upgrade, the upgrade checker will be invoked to check any applicable rule and if completed successfully it will enable the next upgrade step (i.e. to version referred to by rule).

    You are strongly advised to test on a clone, in first instance all the steps required to upgrade your instance and eventually and quite thoroughly your application(s) against the chosen final version.

    During the first two weeks of February 2024 any remaining v11 instance will be stopped and retired or forcibly upgraded to v12.

  3. Change of PostgreSQL password encryption from md5 to scram-sha-256

    As of Dec 2022, scram-sha-256 is the new DBOD recommended password encryption standard.

    You are advised to adopt scram-sha-256 at your earliest convenience.

    Further information at PostgreSQL password encryption

    PLEASE BE AWARE that SCRAM-SHA-256 is REQUIRED before proceeding with ANY MAJOR UPGRADE.

    Please refer to scram-sha-256 password encryption is a requirement for any PostgreSQL MAJOR upgrade for further details.

2022-10-20

Dear DBOD users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. Instance Requests

    PostgreSQL 13.6 is now available for new instances creation in CentOS 8 hosts. We are currently experiencing some issues when requesting new instances, please check here for more info.

  2. DB Server Versions

    The choices currently available for your selection in the Resources Portal are:

    • MySQL 5.7.37 (EOL: v5.7 Oct 21, 2023)
    • MySQL 8.0.28 (*) (EOL: v8 Apr 2026)
    • PostgreSQL 11.15 (EOL: v11 Nov 9, 2023)
    • PostgreSQL 12.10 (EOL: v12 Nov 14, 2024)
    • PostgreSQL 13.6 (*) (EOL: v13 Nov 13, 2025)
    • InfluxDB 1.8.3 (*) InfluxDB 1.8.3 supports the Flux language and provides HTTP endpoints for Prometheus remote reads and writes.

    (*) Recommended for new instances

    NB: EOL dates are referring to the official dates published by the maintainers, support from DBOD might cease before or slightly after the official EOL

  3. Server Upgrades

    • We aim at enabling upgrades to PostgreSQL 13.6 automatically but some might be available only on request due to the pre-requisite to migrate the instance to a CentOS 8 host.
    • During next year (2023), depending on resource availability, contigency efforts and changes in priorities, we aim at introducing PostgreSQL 14 and latest minor releases for PostgreSQL 11, 12 and 13 and subsequently discontinue support of PostgreSQL 11.

2022-10-14

Dear DBOD users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. Instance Requests

    We are now using the new resource portal to request instances, please check here for more info.

  2. Various improvements in DBOD website

    Here is the list of the changes on the DBOD website:

    • Easier expiry date selection
    • New button to access the resource portal
    • New field host in the instance pages
    • Maintenance mode: For some operations your instance can now be put in maintenance mode (upgrade to new version for instance). During this time, most of the actions on this instance won't be available.
    • The default number of instances and jobs displayed is now 20 (up from 10)
    • The reload button in dark mode is now more visible.
    • Improved the cluster view
    • Add the category in the instance overview
    • The title of the tab is now the name of the instance.

2022-06-13

Dear DBOD users,

Please have a look at this important information related to the DBOD service:

  1. Instance Requests

    We have updated our Service Now KB article describing how to request a DBOD instance. As you may have seen already, we have improved the Resources Portal interface letting you send us in one go all the information required to process your requests.

  2. DB Server Versions

    At the same time, we have integrated new versions of MySQL, PostgreSQL, and InfluxDB servers. The choices currently available for your selection in the Resources Portal are:

    • MySQL 5.7.37 (EOL: v5.7 Oct 21, 2023)
    • MySQL 8.0.28 (*) (EOL: v8 Apr 2026)
    • PostgreSQL 11.15
    • PostgreSQL 12.10 (*)
    • InfluxDB 1.8.3 (*) InfluxDB 1.8.3 supports the Flux language and provides HTTP endpoints for Prometheus remote reads and writes.

    (*) Recommended for new instances

  3. Server Upgrades

    On the 4th September 2022 DBOD will cease the support of the following minor releases:

    • PostgreSQL 11 - any release < 11.15
    • PostgreSQL 12 - any release < 12.10
    • MySQL 5.7 - any release < 5.7.37
    • MySQL 8.0 - any release < 8.0.28

    • InfluxDB 1.x - any release < 1.8.3 As a consequence:

    • Instances running MySQL v5.7.xx will need to be upgraded to either v5.7.37 or v8.0.28 (recommended).

    • Instances running on InfluxDB version 1.7.7 can now be upgraded to InfluxDB 1.8.3 version.
    • Instances running on PostgreSQL versions < 11.15 will need to be upgraded to either v11.15 or v12.10 (recommended).
    • Instances running on PostgreSQL versions < 12.10 will need to be upgraded to v12.10.

    We have enabled automated upgrades of your current instances to those new versions through the DBOD Web.

  4. Backup and Recovery Changes

    Based on our experience running the service, we have seen that scheduling automatic backups with periods lower than 24 hours is counter-productive and has lead in the past to some users misconfiguring their instances and reducing the window of usability for said backups. To address this, we are changing the way automatic backups are configured and, for each instance, we now perform one backup every 24 hours. For the time being, if you want to disable this functionality you need to contact us.

    In the coming days we will discontinue the way backup jobs were configured so far through the 'Backup management' icon in the DBOD portal. We also have changed our backup scheduling system to remove dependencies with other components of our platform, and configuring the backups executions locally in the servers hosting each instance. You can see the logs and status of the latest backups runs at the bottom of your instance monitoring Grafana dashboard accessible through the DBOD Portal.

    We have tuned our storage layer configuration to ensure that enough backup space is present to support (via the web interface) Point In Time Recovery of any instance on a time window of 15 days. (Instances with very high activity may have a shorter time window).

    Additionally, for production instances, we send your database archive logs to EOS, which permits us to extend that window up to 45 days for MySQL and PostgreSQL instances, if valid snapshots exist for that period of time.

  5. Cloning

    It is possible to request a clone of an existing DBOD instance through a SNOW ticket for specific testing purposes, like for example testing the implications of upgrading a production instance.

In case of questions, do not hesitate to contact us with a SNOW ticket or sending an email to: dbondemand-admin@cern.ch

Kind regards,

The DBOD team