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Version: 1.1

Upgrade

Overview​

This guide provides upgrade instructions for GreptimeDB, including compatibility information and breaking changes for each version. Before upgrading, ensure you review the relevant breaking changes for your upgrade path.

For each upgrade, review the changes introduced after your current version up to and including your target version. Reviewing intermediate releases does not mean you need to install each one; follow the supported upgrade paths below.

For complete version history and feature additions, see the Release Notes.

If your upgrade crosses v1.1, review Metric Engine changes in v1.1. If you are coming from v0.17, also read the v1.0 compaction guidance.

Upgrade Paths to v1.0​

From v0.16 to v1.0​

If you are currently running v0.16, you can upgrade directly to v1.0. See Upgrading from v0.16 to v1.0 for all relevant breaking changes.

From v0.17 to v1.0​

If you are currently running v0.17, you can upgrade directly to v1.0. See Upgrading from v0.17 to v1.0 for breaking changes.

From Earlier Versions​

Important: This guide only covers upgrades from v0.16 and later versions.

If you are running a version earlier than v0.16, you must first upgrade to v0.16 by following the upgrade documentation for your current version. Once you have successfully upgraded to v0.16, you can then use this guide to upgrade to v1.0.

Breaking Changes by Version​

Metric Engine changes in v1.1​

This change applies when upgrading from any version earlier than v1.1 to v1.1 or later. Metric Engine now selects the Flat SST format for physical tables even when default_flat_format = false.

If compaction runs out of memory after upgrading, review the v1.0 compaction guidance to check the window and file sizes. Switching to primary_key is not the recommended fix for this compaction memory issue.

Upgrading from v1.0 to v1.1​

OSS RRSA credential precedence​

Impact: OSS authentication can use a different RAM role after an upgrade.

When upgrading from v1.0.2 to v1.1.0, ACK deployments using RRSA/OIDC can select ECS node RAM Role credentials before OIDC credentials if the Pod can obtain credentials from node metadata. If the node role lacks the required OSS permissions, table creation or writes can fail with 403 PermissionDenied (for example, while writing a manifest). The same credential order is present in v1.1.4, v1.2.1, and v1.3.0-alpha.1-nightly-20260907; also review this guidance when upgrading directly from v1.0 to one of those versions.

Action Required:

  1. If the deployment uses RRSA/OIDC, set ALIBABA_CLOUD_ECS_METADATA_DISABLED=true in the environment of the standalone instance or all datanodes accessing OSS before rolling out the upgrade. Keep the existing RRSA environment variables and token mount. See OSS RRSA/OIDC configuration for the container configuration example and credential precedence details.
  2. Restart the affected instances so the setting takes effect. Do not apply it to deployments that rely on ECS RAM Role credentials.
  3. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment. Verify table creation, writes, and reads, and check that OSS operations no longer return permission errors. If errors persist, check the selected identity and its bucket permissions; a 403 alone does not identify this credential-order issue.

Upgrading from v0.17 to v1.0​

For Metric Engine tables, review the compaction guidance before upgrading from v0.17 to v1.0 or later.

Jaeger HTTP Header Removal​

Impact: HTTP header deprecation

The HTTP header x-greptime-jaeger-time-range-for-operations has been deprecated and removed.

Action Required:

  • If you configured this header in your Jaeger data source or proxy, remove it from your configuration
  • The header will no longer have any effect

Metric Engine Default Sparse Primary Key Encoding​

Impact: Default configuration change with performance improvements

Metric Engine now enables sparse primary key encoding by default to improve storage efficiency and query performance for metric scenarios.

Configuration Changes:

  • NEW default: sparse_primary_key_encoding = true
  • DEPRECATED: experimental_sparse_primary_key_encoding (use sparse_primary_key_encoding instead)

Action Required:

  • This change does not cause data format compatibility issues
  • All metric tables will automatically use sparse encoding by default
  • If you want to continue using the old encoding method, explicitly set: 
    [metric_engine]
    sparse_primary_key_encoding = false

greptime_identity Pipeline JSON Behavior Change​

Impact: JSON processing logic change

The JSON processing logic in greptime_identity pipeline has changed significantly:

New Behavior:

  • Nested JSON objects are automatically flattened into separate columns using dot notation (e.g., object.a, object.b)
  • Arrays are stored as JSON strings instead of JSON objects
  • The flatten_json_object parameter has been removed
  • A new max_nested_levels parameter controls flattening depth (default: 10 levels)
  • When the depth limit is exceeded, remaining nested structures are serialized as JSON strings

Action Required:

  1. Review your pipeline configurations that use greptime_identity
  2. Remove any usage of the deprecated flatten_json_object parameter
  3. Adjust queries that reference nested JSON fields to use the new dot notation
  4. If you have deeply nested JSON (>10 levels), consider setting max_nested_levels appropriately

Example:

Before (v0.17):

{ "user": { "name": "Alice", "age": 30 } }

Stored as a single JSON column.

After (v1.0):

user.name = "Alice"
user.age = 30

Stored as separate columns.

Metric Engine TSID Generation Algorithm Change​

Impact: Time Series ID generation optimization with query implications

The TSID (Time Series ID) generation algorithm has been optimized by replacing mur3::Hasher128 with the higher-performance fxhash::FxHasher, including a fast-path for series without NULL labels.

Performance Improvements:

  • Regular scenarios: 5-6x faster
  • Scenarios with NULL labels: ~2.5x faster

Breaking Change Impact:

This is a breaking change that affects time series identification:

  • Before upgrade (time < t): Data uses the old algorithm to generate TSIDs
  • After upgrade (time > t): Data uses the new algorithm to generate TSIDs

Query Behavior:

  • Queries with time ranges that span the upgrade time t may experience slight discrepancies in time series matching near time t
  • Queries with time ranges that do not include t are not affected

Action Required:

Choose one of the following upgrade strategies:

  1. Direct Upgrade (Recommended for most users):

    • Accept minor query discrepancies near the upgrade time
    • Suitable if approximate results near the upgrade time are acceptable

  2. Export-Upgrade-Import (For zero tolerance):

    • If you cannot accept any discrepancies, use this fully compatible upgrade method:
      1. Export all data before upgrading
      2. Upgrade to v1.0
      3. Import data back into the new version
    • Refer to Backup & Restore Documentation

Upgrading from v0.16 to v1.0​

If you are upgrading from v0.16, you need to review:

  1. All breaking changes from v0.17 to v1.0 (listed above)
  2. v0.17.0 breaking changes (listed below)

This ensures you're aware of all changes that occurred between v0.16 and v1.0.

v0.17.0 Breaking Changes​

Ordered-Set Aggregate Functions​

Impact: SQL syntax change

Ordered-set aggregate functions now require a WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY …) clause.

Before:

SELECT approx_percentile_cont(latency, 0.95) FROM metrics;

After:

SELECT approx_percentile_cont(0.95) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY latency) FROM metrics;

Action Required: Update all queries using ordered-set aggregate functions (approx_percentile_cont, approx_percentile_cont_weight, etc.) to include the WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY …) clause.

MySQL Protocol Comment Styling​

Impact: Comment syntax strictness

Incorrect comment styling is no longer allowed in MySQL protocol. Comments must start with -- instead of ---.

Before:

--- This is a comment
SELECT * FROM table;

After:

-- This is a comment
SELECT * FROM table;

Action Required: Update any SQL scripts or queries that use --- style comments to use the standard -- format.

Additional v1.0 Changes (Non-Breaking)​

v1.0.0-beta.3​

Cache Configuration Improvements​

The cache architecture has been refactored for better performance:

New Configuration:

  • region_engine.mito.manifest_cache_size (default: 256MB) - specialized manifest file cache

Removed Configuration:

  • storage.cache_path
  • storage.enable_read_cache
  • storage.cache_capacity

Action Required: Update your configuration files to use the new manifest_cache_size setting and remove the deprecated storage cache options.

v1.0.0-beta.2​

Improved Database Compatibility​

  • Numeric type aliases aligned with PostgreSQL and MySQL standards
  • Better PostgreSQL extended query support
  • Improved MySQL binary protocol handling

Action Required: Test your applications to ensure compatibility with the improved behavior.

Minimizing Business Impact During Upgrade​

Before upgrading GreptimeDB, it is essential to perform a comprehensive backup of your data to safeguard against potential data loss. This backup acts as a safety measure in the event of any issues during the upgrade process.

Best Practices​

Rolling Upgrade​

Utilize rolling upgrades on Kubernetes to update GreptimeDB instances incrementally. This approach replaces old instances with new ones while maintaining service availability and minimizing downtime.

Automatic Retries​

Configure client applications to enable automatic retries with exponential backoff. This helps handle temporary service interruptions gracefully.

Temporary Pause of Write Operations​

For applications that can tolerate brief maintenance windows, consider pausing write operations during the upgrade to ensure data consistency.

Double Writing​

Implement double writing to both the old and new versions of GreptimeDB, then switch to the new version once you have verified that it is functioning correctly. This allows you to verify data consistency and gradually redirect read traffic to the upgraded version.

Upgrade Checklist​

Before upgrading to your target version, complete the following checklist:

Pre-Upgrade​

  • If using OSS RRSA/OIDC, review the credential precedence change and configure the ECS metadata opt-out where needed
  • Review all breaking changes relevant to your upgrade path
  • Backup all data and configurations
  • Identify queries using ordered-set aggregate functions (if upgrading from v0.16 or earlier)
  • Identify pipelines using greptime_identity with JSON data
  • Check for usage of deprecated Jaeger HTTP header (if upgrading from v0.17 or earlier)
  • Review metric tables if using Metric Engine
  • If upgrading from v0.17 to v1.0 or later, follow the Metric Engine compaction guidance to choose a window and decide whether to run SWCS before upgrading
  • If upgrading from a version earlier than v1.1 to v1.1 or later, review Metric Engine changes in v1.1

Configuration Updates​

  • Update configuration files (remove deprecated cache settings)
  • Update metric engine configuration if needed (sparse_primary_key_encoding)
  • Update pipeline configurations (remove flatten_json_object, add max_nested_levels if needed)

Code Updates​

  • Update SQL queries with ordered-set aggregates to use WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY ...)
  • Update SQL scripts using --- comments to use --
  • Update queries that access nested JSON fields to use dot notation
  • Remove Jaeger header configuration if present

Testing & Deployment​

  • Test the upgrade in a non-production environment
  • If upgrading from v0.17 to v1.0 or later, test with historical SSTs and monitor memory usage, compaction progress, and query failures
  • Verify query results, especially for:
    • Ordered-set aggregate functions
    • Nested JSON data access
    • Metric queries (if affected by TSID change)
  • Plan for rolling upgrade or maintenance window
  • Prepare rollback plan in case of issues
  • Monitor system behavior after upgrade

Special Considerations for Metric Engine Users​

If you cannot accept query discrepancies near the upgrade time due to TSID algorithm change: