Some simple best practices around performing RabbitMQ upgrades.

Testing a New Version

• Test the upgrade process.
• Test the new version with your services/clients.
• If doing rolling upgrades, test your services with a mixed cluster using the versions you will upgrade from/to.
• Test rolling back.

Rolling Upgrade

Adjust according to your setup.

Per node checklist:

• [ ] Assume roughly 5mins per node.
• [ ] Ensure the node is not just visible in the dashboard, but also accessible via e.g. DNS names and similar.
• [ ] Allow the cluster to stabilise with regards to replication, queue levels and similar.
• [ ] Ensure the underlying (cloud) platform reports a steady state.
• [ ] Ensure that clients can connect to the node and communicate.

⚠️ Rollback always takes longer than upgrade.

Release Windows

• One release per window. If you need to do several upgrades, schedule several windows.