[DISCUSS][PROPOSAL] CloudStack Upgrade Policy

[John Burwell <jo...@shapeblue.com>]

All,

A recently proposed change [1] to remove older upgrade code has prompted a wider discussion regarding the policy we should employ regarding upgrade support.  Currently, we have no policy regarding how far back the process will function.  As the system evolves, it is simply unsustainable to expect a deliver a reliable upgrade from releases that are many years old (e.g. 3.x to the latest 4.x). Currently, we do not verify that all upgrade paths work for each release.

My straw-man proposal is that effective with the 4.6 release, we only support upgrades from two minor releases back of release with revisions inclusive.  For example, upgrades to 4.6.x would be supported from 4.4.x and 4.5.x.  The upgrade process from releases prior to 4.4.0 would require a two step process — upgrade to the latest version 4.5 release and then upgrade from the latest 4.5 release to the latest 4.6 release.  This approach provides backwards compatibility while establishing an upgrade process that is reasonably testable.

In my opinion, any upgrade policy should satisfy two criteria — support the operational processes of the majority and be verifiable through automated testing.

Thanks,
-John

[1]: https://github.com/apache/cloudstack/pull/608

---
John Burwell (@john_burwell)
VP of Software Engineering, ShapeBlue
(571) 403-2411 | +44 20 3603 0542
http://www.shapeblue.com
Please join us at CloudStack Collab EU — http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/cloudstack-collaboration-conference-europe




Find out more about ShapeBlue and our range of CloudStack related services

IaaS Cloud Design & Build<http://shapeblue.com/iaas-cloud-design-and-build//>
CSForge – rapid IaaS deployment framework<http://shapeblue.com/csforge/>
CloudStack Consulting<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-consultancy/>
CloudStack Software Engineering<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-software-engineering/>
CloudStack Infrastructure Support<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-infrastructure-support/>
CloudStack Bootcamp Training Courses<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-training/>

This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Shape Blue Ltd or related companies. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error. Shape Blue Ltd is a company incorporated in England & Wales. ShapeBlue Services India LLP is a company incorporated in India and is operated under license from Shape Blue Ltd. Shape Blue Brasil Consultoria Ltda is a company incorporated in Brasil and is operated under license from Shape Blue Ltd. ShapeBlue SA Pty Ltd is a company registered by The Republic of South Africa and is traded under license from Shape Blue Ltd. ShapeBlue is a registered trademark.

Re: [DISCUSS][PROPOSAL] CloudStack Upgrade Policy

[Daan Hoogland <da...@gmail.com>]

John,

You wrote this here and on users and I think it is a good proposal.
There is one technical catch and I don't think it is worth bothering
users@ with: our current db installation scheme starts with a 4.0.0
database and performs all upgrade steps from that point onward. This
can be solved in the policy or we can start working on maintaining the
scheme if we drop older upgrade scripts as well.

+1


On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 7:09 AM, John Burwell
<jo...@shapeblue.com> wrote:
> All,
>
> A recently proposed change [1] to remove older upgrade code has prompted a wider discussion regarding the policy we should employ regarding upgrade support.  Currently, we have no policy regarding how far back the process will function.  As the system evolves, it is simply unsustainable to expect a deliver a reliable upgrade from releases that are many years old (e.g. 3.x to the latest 4.x). Currently, we do not verify that all upgrade paths work for each release.
>
> My straw-man proposal is that effective with the 4.6 release, we only support upgrades from two minor releases back of release with revisions inclusive.  For example, upgrades to 4.6.x would be supported from 4.4.x and 4.5.x.  The upgrade process from releases prior to 4.4.0 would require a two step process — upgrade to the latest version 4.5 release and then upgrade from the latest 4.5 release to the latest 4.6 release.  This approach provides backwards compatibility while establishing an upgrade process that is reasonably testable.
>
> In my opinion, any upgrade policy should satisfy two criteria — support the operational processes of the majority and be verifiable through automated testing.
>
> Thanks,
> -John
>
> [1]: https://github.com/apache/cloudstack/pull/608
>
> ---
> John Burwell (@john_burwell)
> VP of Software Engineering, ShapeBlue
> (571) 403-2411 | +44 20 3603 0542
> http://www.shapeblue.com
> Please join us at CloudStack Collab EU — http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/cloudstack-collaboration-conference-europe
>
>
>
>
> Find out more about ShapeBlue and our range of CloudStack related services
>
> IaaS Cloud Design & Build<http://shapeblue.com/iaas-cloud-design-and-build//>
> CSForge – rapid IaaS deployment framework<http://shapeblue.com/csforge/>
> CloudStack Consulting<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-consultancy/>
> CloudStack Software Engineering<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-software-engineering/>
> CloudStack Infrastructure Support<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-infrastructure-support/>
> CloudStack Bootcamp Training Courses<http://shapeblue.com/cloudstack-training/>
>
> This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Shape Blue Ltd or related companies. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error. Shape Blue Ltd is a company incorporated in England & Wales. ShapeBlue Services India LLP is a company incorporated in India and is operated under license from Shape Blue Ltd. Shape Blue Brasil Consultoria Ltda is a company incorporated in Brasil and is operated under license from Shape Blue Ltd. ShapeBlue SA Pty Ltd is a company registered by The Republic of South Africa and is traded under license from Shape Blue Ltd. ShapeBlue is a registered trademark.



-- 
Daan