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Upgrade

Upgrade minor and patch versions of Gloo Mesh Core.

You can use this guide to upgrade the Gloo version of your Gloo components, such as the management server and agents, or to apply changes to the components’ configuration settings.

report

Make sure that you review the breaking changes 🔥 that were introduced in this release and the impact that they have on your current environment.

Considerations

Consider the following rules before you plan your Gloo Mesh Core upgrade.

Testing upgrades

During the upgrade, the data plane continues to run, but you might not be able to modify the configurations through the management plane. Because zero downtime is not guaranteed, try testing the upgrade in a staging environment before upgrading your production environment.

Patch and minor versions

Patch version upgrades:
You can skip patch versions within the same minor release. For example, you can upgrade from version 2.5.0 to 2.5.11 directly, and skip the patch versions in between.

Minor version upgrades:

Always upgrade to the latest patch version of the target minor release. For example, if you want to upgrade from version 2.4.16 to 2.5.x, and 2.5.11 is the latest patch version, upgrade to that version and skip any previous patch versions for that minor release. Do not upgrade to a lower patch version, such as 2.5.0, 2.5.1, and so on.
Do not skip minor versions during your upgrade. Upgrade minor release versions one at a time. For example, if you want to upgrade from 2.3.x to 2.5.x, you must first upgrade to the latest patch version of the 2.4 minor release. After you upgrade to 2.4.x, you can then plan your upgrade to the latest patch version of the 2.5.x release.

Multicluster only: Version skew policy for management and remote clusters

Plan to always upgrade your Gloo management server and agents to the same target version. Always upgrade the Gloo management server first. Then, roll out the upgrade to the Gloo agents in your workload clusters. During this upgrade process, your management server and agents can be one minor version apart.

For example, let’s say you want to upgrade from 2.4.16 to 2.5.x. Start by upgrading your management server to the latest patch version of the 2.5 minor release. Your management server and agent are still compliant as they are one minor version apart. Then, roll out the 2.5 minor release upgrade to the agents in your workload clusters.

If you plan to upgrade more than one minor releases, you must perform one minor release upgrade at a time. For example, to upgrade your management server and agent from 2.3.x to 2.5.x, you upgrade your management server to the latest patch version of the 2.4 minor release first. Your management server and agent are compliant because they are one minor version apart. Then, you upgrade your agents to the 2.4 minor release. After you verify the 2.4 upgrade, use the same approach to upgrade the management server and agents from 2.4 to the target 2.5 minor release.

If both your management server and agent run the same minor version, the agent can run any patch version that is equal or lower than the management server’s patch version.

Consider the following example version skew scenarios:

Supported?	Management server version	Agent version	Requirement
✅	2.5.9	2.5.3	The management server and agents run the same minor version. The agent patch version is equal to or lower than the management server.
❌	2.5.7	2.5.9	The agent runs the same minor version as the server, but has a patch version greater than the server.
✅	2.5.9	2.4.16	The agent runs a minor version no greater than n-1 behind the server.
❌	2.5.9	2.3.24	The agent runs a minor version that is greater than n-1 behind the server.

Step 1: Prepare to upgrade

Review changes from the previous version.
report
Before you proceed with the upgrade, make sure that you review the breaking changes that were introduced in this release and the impact that they have on your current environment. For more information, see the Breaking changes.
Check that your underlying Kubernetes platform and Istio service mesh run supported versions for the Gloo Mesh Core version that you want to upgrade to.
1. Review the supported versions.
2. Compare the supported version against the versions of Kubernetes and Istio that you run in your clusters.
3. If necessary, upgrade Istio or Kubernetes to a version that is supported by the Gloo Mesh Core version that you want to upgrade to.
  - For managed Istio installations, see Upgrade Gloo-managed service meshes, or for manually installed Istio, see the Istio documentation.
  - For Kubernetes steps, consult your cluster infrastructure provider.
Set the Gloo Mesh Core version that you want to upgrade to as an environment variable. The latest version is used as an example. Append -fips for a FIPS-compliant image, such as 2.5.11-fips. Do not include v before the version number.
```
  export UPGRADE_VERSION=2.5.11
  
```

Step 2: Upgrade the `meshctl` CLI

Upgrade the meshctl CLI to the version of Gloo Mesh Core you want to upgrade to.

Re-install meshctl to the upgrade version.

  curl -sL https://run.solo.io/meshctl/install | GLOO_MESH_VERSION=v$UPGRADE_VERSION sh -

Verify that the client version matches the version you installed.
```
  meshctl version
  
```
Example output:
```
  {
"client": {
  "version": "2.6.6"
},
  
```

Step 3: Upgrade Gloo Mesh Core

Upgrade your Gloo Mesh Core installation. The steps differ based on whether you run Gloo Mesh Core in a single-cluster or multicluster environment.

Single cluster

Scale down the Gloo management server to 0 replicas. This step is required to safely enable safe mode and I/O threads in Redis. If you already enabled safe mode and you do not want to set I/O threads in Redis, you can skip this step.
```
  kubectl scale deployment gloo-mesh-mgmt-server --replicas=0 -n gloo-mesh
  
```

Update the gloo-platform Helm repo.

  helm repo add gloo-platform https://storage.googleapis.com/gloo-platform/helm-charts
helm repo update

Apply the Gloo custom resource definitions (CRDs) for the upgrade version.

  helm upgrade -i gloo-platform-crds gloo-platform/gloo-platform-crds \
    --namespace gloo-mesh \
    --version $UPGRADE_VERSION \
    --set installEnterpriseCrds=false

Get the Helm values file for your current version.

  helm get values gloo-platform -o yaml -n gloo-mesh > gloo-single.yaml
open gloo-single.yaml

Compare your current Helm chart values with the version that you want to upgrade to. You can get a values file for the upgrade version with the helm show values command.
```
  helm show values gloo-platform/gloo-platform --version $UPGRADE_VERSION > all-values.yaml
  
```
Make any changes that you want, such as modifications required for breaking changes or to enable new features, by editing your gloo-single.yaml Helm values file or preparing the --set flags. If you do not want to use certain settings, comment them out.
If you have not done so already, enable safe mode on the Gloo management server. Safe mode ensures that output snapshots are only created and sent to the Gloo agents when the input snapshots of all registered Gloo agents are present in Redis or the Gloo management server cache. For more information about this feature, see safe mode.
```
  
glooMgmtServer:
  safeMode: true
  
```
Upgrade the Gloo Mesh Core Helm installation.
warning
Make sure to include your Helm values when you upgrade either as a configuration file in the –values flag or with –set flags. Otherwise, any previous custom values that you set might be overwritten.
```
  helm upgrade gloo-platform gloo-platform/gloo-platform \
    --namespace gloo-mesh \
    -f gloo-single.yaml \
    --version $UPGRADE_VERSION
  
```
If you previously scaled down the Gloo management server, scale it back to the number of replicas that you had before. The following example uses 1 replica.
```
  kubectl scale deployment gloo-mesh-mgmt-server --replicas=1 -n gloo-mesh
  
```
Ensure that the Gloo agent connects to the Gloo management server.
```
  meshctl check 
  
```

Confirm that Gloo components, such as the gloo-mesh-mgmt-server, run the version that you upgraded to.

  meshctl version

Example output:

  "server": [
{
  "Namespace": "gloo-mesh",
  "components": [
    {
      "componentName": "gloo-mesh-mgmt-server",
      "images": [
         {
          "name": "gloo-mesh-mgmt-server",
          "domain": "gcr.io",
          "path": "gloo-mesh-mgmt-server",
          "version": "2.5.11"
        }
      ]
    },

Multicluster

Scale down the Gloo management server to 0 replicas. This step is required to safely enable safe mode and I/O threads in Redis. If you already enabled safe mode and you do not want to set I/O threads in Redis, you can skip this step.
```
  kubectl scale deployment gloo-mesh-mgmt-server --context $MGMT_CONTEXT --replicas=0 -n gloo-mesh
  
```

Update the gloo-platform Helm repo.

  helm repo add gloo-platform https://storage.googleapis.com/gloo-platform/helm-charts
helm repo update

Get the Helm values files for your current version.

Get your current values for the management cluster.

  helm get values gloo-platform -n gloo-mesh -o yaml --kube-context $MGMT_CONTEXT > mgmt-plane.yaml
open mgmt-plane.yaml

Get your current values for the workload clusters.

  helm get values gloo-platform -n gloo-mesh -o yaml --kube-context $REMOTE_CONTEXT > data-plane.yaml
open data-plane.yaml

Compare your current Helm chart values with the version that you want to upgrade to. You can get a values file for the upgrade version with the helm show values command.
```
  helm show values gloo-platform/gloo-platform --version $UPGRADE_VERSION > all-values.yaml
  
```
Make any changes that you want, such as modifications required for breaking changes or to enable new features, by editing your mgmt-plane.yaml and data-plane.yaml Helm values files or preparing the --set flags. If you do not want to use certain settings, comment them out.
If you have not done so already, enable safe mode in the Helm values file for the Gloo management cluster. Safe mode ensures that output snapshots are only created and sent to the Gloo agents when the input snapshots of all registered Gloo agents are present in Redis or the Gloo management server cache. For more information about this feature, see safe mode.
```
  
glooMgmtServer:
  safeMode: true
  
```
Upgrade the Gloo Mesh Core Helm releases in your management cluster.
warning
You must always upgrade the Gloo management plane before upgrading the Gloo data plane to avoid unexpected behavior. Note that only n-1 minor version skew is supported between the Gloo management server and the agent. For more information, see the skew policy.
1. Apply the Gloo custom resource definitions (CRDs) for the upgrade version in the management cluster.
```
  helm upgrade -i gloo-platform-crds gloo-platform/gloo-platform-crds \
    --kube-context $MGMT_CONTEXT \
    --namespace gloo-mesh \
    --version $UPGRADE_VERSION \
    --set installEnterpriseCrds=false
  
```
2. Upgrade your Helm release in the management cluster. Make sure to include your Helm values when you upgrade either as a configuration file in the --values flag or with --set flags. Otherwise, any previous custom values that you set might be overwritten.
```
  helm upgrade gloo-platform gloo-platform/gloo-platform \
    --kube-context $MGMT_CONTEXT \
    --namespace gloo-mesh \
    -f mgmt-plane.yaml \
    --version $UPGRADE_VERSION
  
```
3. Confirm that the management plane components, such as the gloo-mesh-mgmt-server, run the version that you upgraded to.
```
  meshctl version --kubecontext $MGMT_CONTEXT
  
```
  Example output:
```
  "server": [
{
  "Namespace": "gloo-mesh",
  "components": [
    {
      "componentName": "gloo-mesh-mgmt-server",
      "images": [
         {
          "name": "gloo-mesh-mgmt-server",
          "domain": "gcr.io",
          "path": "gloo-mesh-mgmt-server",
          "version": "2.5.11"
        }
      ]
    },
  
```
If you previously scaled down the Gloo management server, scale it back to the number of replicas that you had before. The following example uses 1 replica.
```
  kubectl scale deployment gloo-mesh-mgmt-server --context $MGMT_CONTEXT --replicas=1 -n gloo-mesh
  
```
Ensure that the Gloo agent connects to the Gloo management server.
```
  meshctl check --kubecontext $REMOTE_CONTEXT
  
```
Open the Gloo UI and verify that none of your clusters are currently in safe mode. If a cluster is in safe more, the agent’s input snapshot is not yet populated in Redis. You see a yellow banner in the Gloo UI indicating the cluster that triggered safe mode. Wait until the input snapshot is populated and the yellow banner does not display in the Gloo UI anymore.
If a cluster remains in safe mode for a long time, review the logs of the agent by using the kubectl logs <agent-pod> -n gloo-mesh --context $REMOTE_CONTEXT command. To learn more about possible reasons for why the cluster remains in safe mode, see Indefinite safe mode.
```
  meshctl dashboard --kubecontext $MGMT_CONTEXT
  
```
Upgrade the Gloo Mesh Core Helm releases in your workload clusters. Repeat these steps for each workload cluster, and be sure to update the cluster context each time.
1. Apply the Gloo custom resource definitions (CRDs) for the upgrade version in each workload cluster.
```
  helm upgrade -i gloo-platform-crds gloo-platform/gloo-platform-crds \
    --kube-context $REMOTE_CONTEXT \
    --namespace=gloo-mesh \
    --version=$UPGRADE_VERSION \
    --set installEnterpriseCrds=false
  
```
2. Upgrade your Helm release in each workload cluster. Make sure to include your Helm values when you upgrade either as a configuration file in the --values flag or with --set flags. Otherwise, any previous custom values that you set might be overwritten.
```
  helm upgrade gloo-platform gloo-platform/gloo-platform \
    --kube-context $REMOTE_CONTEXT \
    --namespace gloo-mesh \
    -f data-plane.yaml \
    --version $UPGRADE_VERSION
  
```
3. Confirm that the data plane components, such as the gloo-mesh-agent, run the version that you upgraded to.
```
  meshctl version --kubecontext $REMOTE_CONTEXT
  
```
  Example output:
```
  {
      "componentName": "gloo-mesh-agent",
      "images": [
        {
          "name": "gloo-mesh-agent",
          "domain": "gcr.io",
          "path": "gloo-mesh/gloo-mesh-agent",
          "version": "2.5.11"
        }
      ]
    },
  
```
4. Repeat these steps for each workload cluster, and be sure to update the cluster context each time.
Check that the Gloo management and agent components are connected.
```
  meshctl check --kubecontext $MGMT_CONTEXT
  
```
Open the Gloo UI and verify that none of your clusters are currently in safe mode. If a cluster is in safe more, the agent’s input snapshot is not yet populated in Redis. You see a yellow banner in the Gloo UI indicating the cluster that triggered safe mode. Wait until the input snapshot is populated and the yellow banner does not display in the Gloo UI anymore.
If a cluster remains in safe mode for a long time, review the logs of the agent by using the kubectl logs <agent-pod> -n gloo-mesh --context $REMOTE_CONTEXT command. To learn more about possible reasons for why the cluster remains in safe mode, see Indefinite safe mode.
```
  meshctl dashboard --kubecontext $MGMT_CONTEXT
  
```

Update your Gloo license

Before your Gloo license expires, you can update the license by patching the license key secret. If you use Gloo Mesh along with other Gloo products such as Gloo Mesh Gateway, you can also update those licenses.

For example, if you notice that your Gloo management plane deployments are in a crash loop, your Gloo license might be expired. You can check the status of your license with the meshctl license check command.

To pass in a license key directly, encode the key in base64 and pass it in the --key flag. For example, to check your Gloo Mesh Enterprise license key, you can run the following command:
```
  meshctl license check --key $(echo ${GLOO_MESH_LICENSE_KEY} | base64 -w0) --context ${MGMT_CONTEXT}
  
```
If you store your license keys in a Kubernetes secret, you can pass the secret YAML file in the --secrets-file flag instead.
```
  meshctl license check --secrets-file license-keys.yaml --context ${MGMT_CONTEXT}
  
```

Example output for an expired license:

  WARNING  Your gloo-mesh license expired on 2024-01-24 19:30:53 +0100 CET. To get a new license, contact Support.
ERROR  License is expired. For more info, see https://docs.solo.io/gloo-mesh-enterprise/latest/setup/prepare/licensing/#update-licenses

To update your license key in your Gloo installation:

Get a new Gloo license key by contacting your account representative. If you use Gloo Mesh along with other Gloo products such as Gloo Mesh Gateway, make sure to ask for up-to-date license keys for all your products.

Save the new license key as an environment variable.

  export GLOO_MESH_CORE_LICENSE_KEY=<new-key-string>

  export GLOO_MESH_LICENSE_KEY=<new-key-string>

  export GLOO_MESH_GATEWAY_LICENSE_KEY=<new-key-string>

Update the license secret to use the new Gloo license key.

  kubectl -n gloo-mesh patch secret license-keys -p "stringData: { gloo-mesh-core-license-key: $GLOO_MESH_CORE_LICENSE_KEY }"

  kubectl -n gloo-mesh patch secret license-keys -p "stringData: { gloo-mesh-license-key: $GLOO_MESH_LICENSE_KEY }"

  kubectl -n gloo-mesh patch secret license-keys -p "stringData: { gloo-gateway-license-key: $GLOO_MESH_GATEWAY_LICENSE_KEY }"

Optional: If your license expired and the management server pods are in a crash loop, restart the management server pods. If you updated the license before expiration, skip this step.
```
  kubectl rollout restart -n gloo-mesh deployment/gloo-mesh-mgmt-server --context ${MGMT_CONTEXT}
  
```
Verify that your license check is now valid, and no errors are reported.
- To pass in a license key directly, encode the key in base64 and pass it in the --key flag. For example, to check your Gloo Mesh Enterprise license key, you can run the following command:
```
  meshctl license check --key $(echo ${GLOO_MESH_LICENSE_KEY} | base64 -w0) --context ${MGMT_CONTEXT}
  
```
- If you store your license keys in a Kubernetes secret, you can pass the secret YAML file in the --secrets-file flag instead.
```
  meshctl license check --secrets-file license-keys.yaml --context ${MGMT_CONTEXT}
  
```
Example output:
```
  INFO  License key gloo-mesh-license-key for product gloo-mesh is valid. Expires at 08 Oct 24 12:31 CEST
SUCCESS  Licenses are valid
  
```

Upgrade Gloo-managed Istio

To upgrade your Gloo-managed Istio installations by using the Istio lifecycle manager, see Upgrade Gloo-managed service meshes.

Upgrade

Considerations link

Testing upgrades link

Patch and minor versions link

Multicluster only: Version skew policy for management and remote clusters link

Step 1: Prepare to upgrade link

Step 2: Upgrade the meshctl CLI link

Step 3: Upgrade Gloo Mesh Core link

Single cluster link

Multicluster link

Update your Gloo license link

Upgrade Gloo-managed Istio link