Database version policies

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This page describes the support, retirement, and compatibility policies for AlloyDB Omni major and minor versions, the AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes operator, and the AlloyDB Omni CLI.

Support policy

Google provides support for AlloyDB Omni versions and the AlloyDB Omni operator based on the following timelines:

Version type Support period
Major versions Supported for 5 years from the initial release date, matching the community support lifecycle of the underlying PostgreSQL version.
Minor versions Supported for 1 year from their specific release date.
Kubernetes operator versions Supported for 1 year from their specific release date. To find the release date for an operator version, see [AlloyDB Omni release notes](/alloydb/omni/kubernetes/current/docs/release-notes).

Major version support timeline

The following table lists the general availability (GA) dates of AlloyDB Omni support for PostgreSQL major versions. These dates serve as the "initial release date" for calculating the 5-year support window.

PostgreSQL major version GA date
17 Dec 5, 2025
16 April 7, 2025
15 October 11, 2023

Once a version exceeds its support period, it is considered retired. Google doesn't process support tickets for retired versions and recommends that you upgrade to a supported version to continue receiving assistance.

Supported PostgreSQL versions

AlloyDB Omni supports compatibility with the following PostgreSQL database versions:

PostgreSQL version AlloyDB Omni version Status
17.5 17.5.0 Supported
16.9 16.9.0 Supported
15.13 15.13.0 Supported
16.8 16.8.0 Retired
15.12 15.12.0 Retired

Patch policy

To ensure the security and stability of your environment, Google applies patches for critical bugs and vulnerabilities according to the following policy:

  • Patches are applied only to the latest minor version of each supported major version.
  • If you encounter an issue on an older minor version, you must upgrade to the latest available minor version of that major version to receive the fix.

Upgrade and compatibility

The version numbers for AlloyDB Omni indicate the version of PostgreSQL they support using the format MAJOR_VERSION.MINOR_VERSION.OMNI_PATCH_VERSION. The major and minor version numbers match the version of the underlying PostgreSQL engine, while the third number represents the AlloyDB Omni patch version.

Policy category Description
Major version timing We aim to support new PostgreSQL major versions within eight months of the release of the first minor release, version x.1, of a new PostgreSQL major version.
Minor version timing We aim to release support for new PostgreSQL minor versions every quarter.
Upgrade order You must upgrade the AlloyDB Omni operator before upgrading your database clusters (dataplanes).
Security updates We aim to release fixes within one month of a PostgreSQL community security release.
Operator compatibility The operator is designed to manage dataplanes up to 1 year old.
Upgrade path
  • You may skip minor or patch versions during an upgrade, provided the version gap does not exceed the 1-year support period.
  • Rollbacks are only supported to the version used immediately prior to the upgrade.

Data protection

The AlloyDB Omni operator doesn't perform automatic backups before an upgrade. You are responsible for taking a manual backup of your data before triggering an upgrade process.

AlloyDB Omni CLI

The AlloyDB Omni CLI uses an independent MAJOR.MINOR versioning scheme. The major version is only increased for backwards-incompatible changes.