Strategies for upgrading Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL and Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL from version 13

This article provides strategies for upgrading Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL and RDS for PostgreSQL from version 13 before standard support ends February 28, 2026.

• PostgreSQL v13 standard support ends February 28, 2026
• Newer versions offer performance improvements: vacuum emergency mode, better I/O, query optimization, memory efficiency
• Advanced monitoring features: pg_stat_io, pg_wait_events for diagnostics
• Logical replication improvements: failover support, slot migration, parallel apply
• Security enhancements: new roles, removal of PUBLIC schema permissions
• Four upgrade strategies: in-place, blue/green deployment, logical replication, AWS DMS
• In-place upgrade requires downtime proportional to database size
• Blue/green deployment offers minimal downtime with one-click upgrade and testing
• Logical replication enables minimal downtime but requires complex setup
• AWS DMS supports minimal-downtime upgrades with CDC capabilities
• Test upgrades in staging environment before production
• RDS Extended Support provides up to 3 years additional security patches

Plan and test thoroughly before upgrading to newer PostgreSQL versions to maximize benefits while minimizing disruption.