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Upgrade - ScyllaDB 2025.1.x.y to 2025.1.x.z (Patch Upgrades)¶
This document describes a step-by-step procedure for upgrading from ScyllaDB 2025.1.x.y to ScyllaDB 2025.1.x.z (where “z” is the latest available version), and rolling back to version 2025.1.x.y if necessary.
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.
It also applies to the ScyllaDB official image on EC2, GCP, or Azure.
Upgrade Procedure¶
Note
Apply the following procedure serially on each node. Do not move to the next node before validating that the node is up and running the new version.
A ScyllaDB upgrade is a rolling procedure that does not require a full cluster shutdown. For each of the nodes in the cluster, you will:
Drain the node and back up the data.
Backup configuration file.
Stop ScyllaDB.
Download and install new ScyllaDB packages.
Start ScyllaDB.
Validate that the upgrade was successful.
Before upgrading, check which version you are running now using
scylla --version. Note the current version in case you want to roll back
the upgrade.
During the rolling upgrade it is highly recommended:
Not to use new 2025.1.x.z 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.
Upgrade Steps¶
Back up the data¶
Back up all the data to an external device. We recommend using ScyllaDB Manager to create backups.
Alternatively, you can use the nodetool snapshot command.
For each node in the cluster, run the following:
nodetool drain
nodetool snapshot
Take note of the directory name that nodetool gives you, and copy all
the directories with this 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.
Back up the configuration file¶
Back up the scylla.yaml configuration file and the ScyllaDB packages
in case you need to roll back the upgrade.
sudo cp -a /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml.backup
sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list.d/scylla.list ~/scylla.list-backup
sudo cp -a /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml.backup
sudo cp /etc/yum.repos.d/scylla.repo ~/scylla.repo-backup
Gracefully stop the node¶
sudo service scylla-server stop
Download and install the new release¶
You don’t need to update the ScyllaDB DEB or RPM repo when you upgrade to a patch release.
To install a patch version on Debian or Ubuntu, run:
sudo apt-get clean all
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade scylla
Answer ‘y’ to the first two questions.
To install a patch version on RHEL or CentOS, run:
sudo yum clean all
sudo yum update scylla\* -y
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 have installed ScyllaDB packages for Ubuntu or Debian, you need to apply an extended upgrade procedure:
Install the new ScyllaDB version with the additional
scylla-machine-imagepackage:sudo apt-get clean all sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade scylla sudo apt-get dist-upgrade scylla-machine-image
Run
scylla_setupwithoutrunning io_setup.Run
sudo /opt/scylladb/scylla-machine-image/scylla_cloud_io_setup.
Start the node¶
sudo service start scylla-server
Validate¶
Check cluster status with
nodetool statusand 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.Use
journalctl _COMM=scyllato check there are no new errors in the log.Check again after 2 minutes to validate that no new issues are introduced.
Once you are sure the node upgrade is successful, move to the next node in the cluster.
Rollback Procedure¶
The following procedure describes a rollback from ScyllaDB release 2025.1.x.z to 2025.1.x.y. Apply this procedure if an upgrade from 2025.1.x.y to 2025.1.x.z failed before completing on all nodes.
Use this procedure only on nodes you upgraded to 2025.1.x.z.
Execute the following commands one node at a time, moving to the next node only after the rollback procedure is completed successfully.
ScyllaDB rollback is a rolling procedure that does not require a full cluster shutdown. For each of the nodes to roll back to 2025.1.x.y, you will:
Drain the node and stop ScyllaDB.
Downgrade to the previous release.
Restore the configuration file.
Restart ScyllaDB.
Validate the rollback success.
Rollback Steps¶
Gracefully shutdown ScyllaDB¶
nodetool drain
sudo service stop scylla-server
Downgrade to the previous release¶
To downgrade to 2025.1.x.y on Debian or Ubuntu, run:
sudo apt-get install scylla=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-server=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-tools=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-tools-core=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-kernel-conf=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-conf=2025.1.x.y\*
Answer ‘y’ to the first two questions.
To downgrade to 2025.1.x.y on RHEL or CentOS, run:
sudo yum downgrade scylla\*-2025.1.x.y-\* -y
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 have installed ScyllaDB packages for
Ubuntu or Debian, you need to additionally downgrade
the scylla-machine-image package.
sudo apt-get install scylla=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-server=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-tools=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-tools-core=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-kernel-conf=2025.1.x.y\* scylla-conf=2025.1.x.y\*
sudo apt-get install scylla-machine-image=2025.1.x.y\*
Answer ‘y’ to the first two questions.
Restore the configuration file¶
sudo rm -rf /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml
sudo cp -a /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml.backup /etc/scylla/scylla.yaml
Start the node¶
sudo service scylla-server start
Validate¶
Check upgrade instruction above for validation. Once you are sure the node rollback is successful, move to the next node in the cluster.