Migration postgresql 13 to postgresql 16

rdelmas

Hello Marcin,

Small procedural question.

For the postgresql upgrade, from version 13 (Final release for november 13, 2025) to version 16, I have the official postgres documentation :

I also know that there is a script provided which allows you to update/upgrade the tables :

update_bacula_tables
update_postgresql_tables

At the moment, the cluster servers are :

Bacula v15.0.2
Bacularis v4.0.0
PostgreSQL 13.18
postgresql-13-repmgr 5.5.0

Do you have any specific recommendations on the procedure to be put in place, other than going from 13 to 14, then 14 to 15, and finally 15 to 16?

Best regards,
Romain

gani

Hello Romain,

For the database server upgrade, I am not PostgreSQL expert, but I guess you can do upgrade directly from 13 to 16 without installing versions 14 and 15. This is not recommendation, this is just what I think, so please confirm it before using :-) The scenario, that you want to use, with sequential upgrade one major version by one is fully correct, of course. I am just thinking if it is needed.

To do it you will need pg_upgrade in version 16 and the PostgreSQL binaries from 13 and 16. In my environment I upgrade PostgreSQL between major versions X and X+1 and I have never experienced any problem with the upgrade procedure.

For the Bacula update tables scripts (update_bacula_tables, update_postgresql_tables) they are not needed in the PostgreSQL upgrade process. They are used if Bacula is upgraded between major releases to update Bacula tables format. So, as long as your Bacula is the same version (15.0.2) the Bacula script is not needed.

For other recommendations, I would propose to do the database and config files backup before upgrading. And as always it is good to read the release notes from considered versions and the upgrading documentation chapter as well. The docs that you pasted here are good as well.

Good luck with this upgrade!

Best regards,
Marcin Haba (gani)