Upgrade PostgreSQL

Each release of TimescaleDB is compatible with specific versions of PostgreSQL. Over time we will add support for a newer version of PostgreSQL while simultaneously dropping support for an older versions.

When the supported versions of PostgreSQL changes, you may need to upgrade the version of the PostgreSQL instance (e.g. from 10 to 12) before you can install the latest release of TimescaleDB.

To upgrade PostgreSQL, you have two choices, as outlined in the PostgreSQL online documentation.

Use pg_upgrade

pg_upgrade is a tool that avoids the need to dump all data and then import it into a new instance of PostgreSQL after a new version is installed. Instead, pg_upgrade allows you to retain the data files of your current PostgreSQL installation while binding the new PostgreSQL binary runtime to them. This is currently supported for all releases 8.4 and greater.

 pg_upgrade -b oldbindir -B newbindir -d olddatadir -D newdatadir"

Use pg_dump and pg_restore

When pg_upgrade is not an option, such as moving data to a new physical instance of PostgreSQL, using the tried and true method of dumping all data in the database and then restoring into a database in the new instance is always supported with PostgreSQL and TimescaleDB.

Please see our documentation on Backup & Restore strategies for more information.