MySQL 5.6 has an extensive list of new features and changes, so upgrading from a previous version can be risky if not tested extensively. For this reason, we recommend our users to read and understand the changes before doing the upgrade. If you are on older MySQL versions, it is probably time to think about upgrading. MySQL 5.6 was released in February 2013, that’s almost two years ago!
A major upgrade, e.g., from MySQL 5.5 to 5.6 or MariaDB 5.5 to 10, requires the former MySQL/MariaDB server related packages to be uninstalled. In Galera Cluster, there are two ways to upgrade; either by performing offline upgrade (safer, simpler, requires service downtime) or online upgrade (more complex, no downtime).
In this blog post, we are going to show you how to perform an offline upgrade on Galera-based MySQL/MariaDB servers, from MySQL 5.5.x to 5.6 or MariaDB 5.5 to 10.x with Galera 3.x, on Redhat and Debian-based systems. The online upgrade procedure will be covered in a separate post. Prior to the upgrade, determine the database vendor and operating system that is running at ClusterControl > Settings > General Settings > Version:
Note that different database vendor and operating system combinations use different installation steps, package names, versions and dependencies.
Offline Upgrade in Galera
Offline upgrade is recommended if you can afford scheduled downtime. The steps are straightforward and the probability for failure is significantly lower. Performing an online upgrade gives you availability at the cost of operational simplicity.