Update Alation to V R6 (5.10.x)

Customer Managed Applies to customer-managed instances of Alation

The process of updating Alation to V R6 (5.10.x) from an older release depends on your current release number.

If you want to update from versions:

  • V R2 (5.4.x)

  • V R3 (5.6.x)

  • V R4 (5.8.x)

  • V R5 (5.9.x)

then first refer to Updating from V R2, V R3, V R4, V R5.

If you want to update from versions before V R2 (5.4.x), and namely:

  • 4.8.x

  • V R1 (5.0.x)

Read the information in Updating from Before V R2.

Updating from V R2, V R3, V R4, V R5

V R5 To V R6

Update from V R5 (5.9.x) to V R6 (5.10.x) follows the Regular Update Scenario.

also see PostgreSQL Upgrade to 9.6 .

V R2, V R3, VR4  To V R6

In V R6 (5.10.x), Alation no longer includes the MongoDB component. In a regular scenario, migration off Mongo DB has already been completed in the background on your instance, and you can update to R6 following the Regular Update Scenario.

If the V R6 updater quits with the following error:

The installer will abort until migration job from MongoDB to Postgres has succeeded -

then follow Irregular Scenario: MongoDB Migration is Not Complete.

also see PostgreSQL Upgrade to 9.6. You can upgrade PostgreSQL on a separate schedule after you have updated Alation to V R6.

If you are updating from V R4 and earlier, see Scheduled Query Migration: V R6 Changes

Regular Update Scenario

Plan your update from V R2, V R3, V R4, and V R5 using the following information:

Irregular Scenario: MongoDB Migration is Not Complete

Incomplete off-Mongo DB migration causes the following error during the attempted update to V R6:

The installer will abort until migration job from MongoDB to Postgres has succeeded.

Updating from Before V R2

If your current release is 4.8.x or V R1 (5.0.x), then updating to V R6 will have to be achieved in three steps.

Step 1: Update to V R4 (latest patch version)

You will need to update to:

  • V R4 (latest available patch version)

Note

In your Alation version, one of the internal components is MongoDB .  It is used for storing Alation server data, such as, for example, the results of Compose queries. Starting with version V R2 (5.4.x), Alation began to migrate the server data off MongoDB to a PostgreSQL database. This transition has been happening in the background and is complete in V R5 (5.9.x) where the MongoDB component is no longer present in the Alation package.

This transition is a major architectural change in the Alation application, and, unfortunately, it does not allow us to support a seamless update from your version to V R6.

The intermediary stage is updating to V R4 (latest available patch), which is required for Alation to start and complete the transition from MongoDB to PostgreSQL as the internal server data repository.

Plan your update to V R4 using the following information in Help Center:

When you successfully update Alation to V R4, you can move to the next step.

Step 2: Allow Time For MongoDB Transition to Complete

Let your updated R4 instance run over at least one weekend. In the background, Alation will start and complete the server data migration off MongoDB to PostgreSQL.

After the migration is complete, you can go to the next stage and update to V R6.

Note

On a Saturday after the update, Alation will automatically trigger the MongoDB migration script that copies the Alation server data from MongoDB to PostgreSQL. In a regular scenario, this migration should be completed over one weekend. If it requires a longer time, the process will be working until the migration is finished successfully.

You can check mongo-data-migration.log at /opt/alation/site/logs after the weekend to make sure that migration is complete.

Step 3:Update to V R6

Plan your update to V R6 using the information in Help Center and then update your instance: Regular Update Scenario.

Note

You might see the following message:

The installer will abort until migration job from MongoDB to Postgres has succeeded.

This means the data migration may have completed with errors. assistance.

PostgreSQL Upgrade to 9.6

Applies to instances UPDATED to V R6 from prior releases

Does not apply to new installations of V R6

After you have updated Alation to V R6 you can choose to upgrade its internal PostgreSQL databases to version 9.6. This PostgreSQL upgrade can be done on a schedule independent from updating the Alation application.

Note

Releases before V R6 use PostgreSQL 9.3. PostreSQL 9.3 is at end of life and no longer receives updates or bug fixes.

We recommend that you upgrade to PostgreSQL 9.6. Alation will stop using the PostgreSQL 9.3 in one of the releases that will follow V R6, and upgrading PostgreSQL to 9.6 will become a requirement.

See Upgrade Internal PostgreSQL Instances for steps.

Scheduled Query Migration: V R6 Changes

There are some important changes to the behavior of scheduled queries in V R6 compared to previous releases. Be prepared for the following:

R4 and earlier

If you have UNPUBLISHED SCHEDULED queries

In R6, you can no longer schedule unpublished queries.

During update to V R6, your UNPUBLISHED SCHEDULED queries will be automatically PUBLISHED to keep your query schedule. You will receive an email notification informing you about this change and having the list of auto-published queries.

Note that this auto-publishing will create a major version in the query version history.

If you have PUBLISHED SCHEDULED queries that include changes you haven’t published yet

In R6, only the published part of the query can run on schedule. During update to V R6, such queries will be automatically republished in full so that there are no unpublished edits in these queries. You will receive an email notification informing you about this change and having the list of auto-republished queries.

Note that auto-republishing will create a major version in the query version history.