How to upgrade PostgreSQL 12 to version 14

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Create a data backup

Optional but strongly advised: backup all existing data.

sudo -u postgres pg_dumpall > backup.sql

Perform the upgrade

1. Update and install packages

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install postgresql-14 postgresql-server-dev-14

2. Halt the old server

    sudo systemctl stop postgresql.service

3. Migrate configuration files

    sudo -u postgres /usr/lib/postgresql/14/bin/pg_upgrade \
    --old-datadir=/var/lib/postgresql/12/main \
    --new-datadir=/var/lib/postgresql/14/main \
    --old-bindir=/usr/lib/postgresql/12/bin \
    --new-bindir=/usr/lib/postgresql/14/bin \
    --old-options '-c config_file=/etc/postgresql/12/main/postgresql.conf' \
    --new-options '-c config_file=/etc/postgresql/14/main/postgresql.conf'

4. Reconfigure server ports

    sudo vim /etc/postgresql/14/main/postgresql.conf  # Set port to 5432
    sudo vim /etc/postgresql/12/main/postgresql.conf  # Set port to 5433

5. Activate new server and verify version

    sudo systemctl start postgresql.service
    sudo -u postgres psql -c "SELECT version();"

6. Execute new cluster script

    sudo -u postgres ./analyze_new_cluster.sh

Reset user passwords

PostgreSQL v14 defaults to scram-sha-256 for password hashing. Redefine all existing passwords.

sudo -u postgres psql
postgres=# \password $USER

Or, modify /etc/postgresql/14/main/pg_hba.conf to switch back to md5. But be cautious, as future versions may not support MD5.

Remove old version

1. Remove old packages

    sudo apt-get remove postgresql-12 postgresql-server-dev-12

2. Delete configuration and data

    sudo rm -rf /etc/postgresql/12/
    sudo -u postgres ./delete_old_cluster.sh

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Last updated 14 days ago.