Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink has recently announced support for Apache Flink runtime version 1.18, allowing existing users to smoothly migrate their applications to the latest version without data loss. Apache Flink is an open-source distributed processing engine that supports both stream and batch processing, with first-class stateful processing and event time semantics. Managed Service for Apache Flink is a fully managed, serverless experience for running Apache Flink applications.
With the new in-place version upgrades feature, users can upgrade to any version of Apache Flink within the same application while retaining state. This upgrade process is seamless and does not require creating a new application. Logs, metrics, configurations, and other settings remain intact during the upgrade. To ensure successful upgrades, users need to update their application code, dependencies, and client configurations to match the target runtime version.
Testing the application locally with the new runtime version is recommended before deploying it on Managed Service for Apache Flink. Once testing is successful, users can begin the upgrade process by building their application JAR and uploading it to Amazon S3. Taking a snapshot of the current running application state is also recommended before starting the upgrade to facilitate a rollback in case of issues.
During the upgrade process, compatibility checks are performed to ensure the state is compatible with the new runtime version. If the application starts running in the new version, monitoring for any unexpected behavior is crucial. In case of issues, users can rollback to the previous version to avoid disruptions to end-users.
It is important to be aware of edge cases and known issues that may arise during the upgrade process, such as state incompatibility when transitioning between different versions of Apache Flink. Tools like the Amazon Kinesis Connector Flink State Migrator can help migrate connectors without losing state. Testing the upgrade process in a lower environment before production is highly recommended to ensure a smooth transition.
In conclusion, the in-place version upgrade feature from Managed Service for Apache Flink provides a streamlined process for upgrading applications to the latest Apache Flink versions. By following best practices and recommendations, users can ensure a successful upgrade without data loss. For more information and detailed guidance on upgrading applications, users can refer to the resources provided by Managed Service for Apache Flink.
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https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/big-data/in-place-version-upgrades-for-applications-on-amazon-managed-service-for-apache-flink-now-supported/