Announcement: Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x end of standard support is February 28, 2025

On February 28, 2025, Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-compatible edition major version 12.x will reach the end of standard support. Per the Aurora Version Policy [1], we are providing advance notice to give you time to upgrade your database cluster(s). We recommend that you proactively upgrade your databases running Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL major version 12 to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 13 or higher at your convenience before February 28, 2025.

Starting on or after February 28, 2025, if you do not upgrade your database running Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x to a newer major version that is Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 13 or higher or if you are not on Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.9 long-term-support version (LTS), Amazon Aurora will upgrade your Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x databases to the appropriate Extended Support minor version during a scheduled maintenance window. Extended Support charges will start on March 1, 2025 regardless of what 12.x version your database is running. You do not have to use the AWS console or APIs to opt-in to Amazon RDS Extended Support manually and you can continue to run 12.x databases on Extended Support for up to three years. Extended Support charges will continue until you upgrade to a newer major version.

How to Determine Which Instances are Running Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x?

In the Amazon RDS console, you can see details about a database cluster, including the Aurora PostgreSQL version of instances in the cluster, by choosing Databases from the console's navigation pane. To view DB cluster information by using the AWS CLI, use the describe-db-clusters command. To view DB cluster information using the Amazon RDS API, use the DescribeDBClusters operation. [2] You can also query a database directly to get the version number by querying the aurora_version() system function i.e., "SELECT * FROM aurora_version();".

How to Upgrade to a New Major Version?

You can initiate an upgrade of your database instance either immediately or during your next maintenance window to a newer major version of Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL using the AWS Management Console or the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI). The upgrade process will shut down the database instance, perform the upgrade, and restart the database instance. The database instance may be restarted multiple times during the upgrade process. While major version upgrades typically complete within the standard maintenance window, the duration of the upgrade depends on the number of objects within the database. To avoid any unplanned unavailability outside your maintenance window, we recommend that you first take a snapshot [3] or a fast database clone [4] of your database and test the upgrade to get an estimate of the duration. To learn more about upgrading PostgreSQL major versions in Aurora, review the Upgrading Database Versions page [5].

Availability of Extended Support:

Amazon RDS Extended Support [6] allows you to continue to use Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition major versions after the community end-of-life. During this time, AWS provides fixes for critical security issues and bugs through patch releases, giving you more time, up to three years, to upgrade to a new major version to help you meet your business requirements. For provisioned instances on Amazon Aurora, Amazon RDS Extended Support is priced per vCPU per hour [7].

Please be aware of the following timeline:

• Now through February 28, 2025 - You can initiate upgrades of Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x instances to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 13 or higher at any time.
• Starting on or after February 28, 2025, if you do not upgrade your database running Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x to a newer major version that is Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 13 or higher or if you are not on Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.9 long-term-support (LTS), Amazon Aurora will upgrade your Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x databases to the appropriate Extended Support minor version during a scheduled maintenance window. Extended Support charges will start on March 1, 2025. You can continue to run 12.x databases on Extended Support for up to three years. Extended Support charges will continue until you upgrade to a newer major version.
• Restoration of Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x database snapshots after February 28, 2025 will result in an automatic upgrade of the restored database to an Extended Support version of Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL 12.x at the time. Customers will incur Amazon RDS Extended Support charges starting March 1, 2025.

If you have any questions or concerns, the AWS Support Team is available on AWS re:Post and via Premium Support [8]

[1] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/Aurora.VersionPolicy.html

[2] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/accessing-monitoring.html

[3] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/USER_CreateSnapshotCluster.html

[4] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/Aurora.Managing.Clone.html

[5] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/USER_UpgradeDBInstance.PostgreSQL.html

[6] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/extended-support.html

[7] https://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/pricing/#Amazon_RDS_Extended_Support_costs

[8] https://aws.amazon.com/support