Enjoy it while it lasts, as everything has its end.
Maricon454688973982390893280398289038302380283’2233’832’23, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It sounded a bit more cryptic than it was planned, but I hope that it gets the attention it needs, as it’s important to know that MongoDB 4.2 in April has reached its End of Life (EOL), and more versions are soon going to be decommissioned as well.
What does that mean for me?
If you are a user of MongoDB 4.2, whether the MongoDB Inc. version or Percona Server for MongoDB one, your database will no longer receive bug fixes, patches, or minor releases.
As defined in our Lifecycle Policy:
We will provide Operational Support for customers running EOL software on active platforms. For EOLed platforms, we provide Community Support.
And as stated in our Lifecycle Overview:
For software that Percona bases on an upstream build, we match the upstream EOL dates.
Our MongoDB Server follows the upstream EOL dates. This means that bug fixes and software builds will no longer be generated also for our release of MongoDB.
Also, with the Percona Server for MongoDB 4.2 reaching its end of life, the implications are as follows:
- Percona Distribution for MongoDB 4.2 will no longer receive updates and bug fixes
- Percona Backup for MongoDB (PBM) will no longer support 4.2 either. That means that testing with 4.2 has ceased, and while PBM may still successfully perform backups and restores, we cannot guarantee it anymore.
That being said, rest assured, you will not be left alone. Those that have or would like to sign up for a Percona Support Subscription will continue to receive operational support and services. Operational support includes but is not limited to:
- Query optimization
- MongoDB tuning (replica sets and sharded clusters)
- MongoDB configuration, including our enterprise features such as LDAP
- Upgrade support (from EOL versions, so, i.e., 3.6->4.0->4.2->…)
- Setup and configuration of MongoDB clusters and tools such as Percona Backup for MongoDB and Percona Monitoring and Management (respecting the tool limitation for the EOL-ed version).
- In case of crashes, although we do not report bugs, we can still track down known bugs and provide recommendations.
Still have questions about the 4.2 EOL?
In her recent blog post, MongoDB V4.2 EOL Is Coming: How To Upgrade Now and Watch Out for the Gotchas!, our MongoDB Tech Lead, Kimberly Wilkins, has covered the ins and outs of a MongoDB upgrade.
She has also hosted a webinar on the MongoDB 4.2 EOL common questions and challenges.
If you are our customer, please create a ticket for more assistance. Remember also that our Percona Community Forum is always open for any users of our software, as we believe that community is very important in building our products!
What’s next
I do not want to be the bearer of bad news, but we have seen the great popularity of MongoDB 4.2 and 4.4. If you are on 4.2 right now, it makes all the difference to move away from it ASAP. This version has just become a possible threat to your security.
As you see, 4.4 was mentioned as well. That’s right, this highly popular, last version in the 4.x family is scheduled to be EOL in February 2024. That’s less than one year to make preparations for upgrading.
MongoDB EOL for the upcoming year or so.
While at it, notice that 5.0 is planned to be EOL in October 2024 as well, so next year, it’s worth considering upgrading to 6.0 to have at least till 2025 for the next EOL.
MongoDB 6.0 still has two years of life now.
If such an upgrade seems challenging and you want some help or at least advice around it, consider some of our premium services from MongoDB experts that can help you with migration by:
- Support – Answering any operational questions
- Managed Services – Playing the role of the remote DBA that handles all maintenance (including upgrades) for you
- Consulting – Professionals that can come in and advise or even do the upgrade for you at any time
- Training – So that your team can feel more comfortable with running the upgrades
Percona Distribution for MongoDB is a freely available MongoDB database alternative, giving you a single solution that combines the best and most important enterprise components from the open source community, designed and tested to work together.