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Upgrade Procedures

This guide covers strategic upgrade procedures for Simba Intelligence deployments using Helm charts in Kubernetes environments.
Audience Note: This guide assumes familiarity with Kubernetes, Helm, and basic upgrade planning principles. For foundational knowledge, refer to the official Helm documentation.
Production Note: Always test upgrades in non-production environments before applying to production systems. Follow your organization’s change management and approval processes.

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Overview

Successful upgrades require careful planning, appropriate backup strategies, and understanding the scope of changes in each version type. This guide focuses on Helm-based upgrade strategies that integrate with your existing operational practices.

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Pre-Upgrade Planning

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Backup Strategy

Before any upgrade, ensure comprehensive backup coverage: Critical Backup Components:
  • Database Backups - Complete PostgreSQL database snapshots
  • Persistent Volume Snapshots - All persistent data and configuration
  • Helm Configuration - Current values and deployment state
  • Kubernetes Resources - ConfigMaps, Secrets, and custom resources
Backup Verification: Verify that your backup systems are functioning correctly and restoration procedures are tested. Your backup strategy should align with your organization’s data protection and recovery requirements.

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Version Assessment

Version Type Classification:
  • Major.Minor Versions (e.g., 25.2 → 25.3 or 26.0) - May include significant changes
  • Revision Updates (e.g., 25.2.1 → 25.2.2) - Primarily bug fixes and patches
Pre-Upgrade Review:
  • Review release notes, and helm readme for breaking changes
  • Assess impact on existing integrations
  • Verify compatibility with current infrastructure
  • Plan for any required configuration updates

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Upgrade Strategies

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Major/Minor Version Upgrades

For major or minor version changes, use a conservative approach to minimize risk: Recommended Approach:
  1. Scale Down Deployments and StatefulSets - Temporarily scale deployments to zero replicas
  2. Update Application - Deploy new version via Helm upgrade
  3. Verify Functionality - Confirm system health and schema updates completed successfully
Strategic Considerations:
  • Planned Maintenance Window - Schedule during low-usage periods
  • Extended Downtime Planning - Communicate expected downtime to users
  • Rollback Readiness - Ensure quick rollback capability if issues arise

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Revision Upgrades

For revision updates (patch releases), normal rolling updates are typically appropriate: Recommended Approach:
  1. Rolling Update - Use Helm’s default rolling update strategy
  2. Monitor Deployment - Watch for any deployment issues
  3. Verify Health - Confirm system continues operating normally
Strategic Considerations:
  • Configuration-Dependent Risk - Risk level depends on StatefulSet configuration and replica counts
  • Continuous Monitoring - Watch application metrics during update
  • Quick Detection - Be prepared to identify any unexpected issues

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Upgrade Execution

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Helm Upgrade Process

Basic Upgrade Command Structure: 
helm upgrade [RELEASE_NAME] oci://docker.io/insightsoftware/simba-intelligence-chart --namespace [NAMESPACE] --version [VERSION]
Key Upgrade Parameters:
  • Version Specification - Always specify exact chart version
  • Values Preservation - Use --reuse-values or provide updated values
  • Timeout Configuration - Set appropriate timeout for your environment
  • Rollback on Failure - Configure automatic rollback behavior

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Upgrade Monitoring

During Upgrade:
  • Monitor pod rollout status
  • Watch for any error conditions
  • Track resource utilization
  • Verify service connectivity
Health Verification:
  • Application health endpoints respond correctly
  • Database connectivity is maintained
  • All expected services are running
  • Integration points continue functioning

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Post-Upgrade Verification

Essential Verification Steps:
  • Confirm all services are running and healthy
  • Verify core application functionality works as expected
  • Validate performance meets baseline requirements
  • Test critical integration points
  • Document upgrade completion and any issues encountered
Communication: Follow your organization’s established procedures for communicating upgrade completion and system status updates.

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Rollback Procedures

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When to Rollback

Consider rollback when:
  • Critical functionality is impaired
  • Performance degradation exceeds acceptable thresholds
  • Integration failures prevent normal operation
  • Data integrity concerns arise

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Rollback Execution

Rollback Procedure:
  1. Scale Down Services - Temporarily scale deployments and StatefulSets to zero replicas
  2. Restore Backups - Restore database and persistent data from pre-upgrade backups
  3. Helm Rollback - Rollback to previous chart release
  4. Verify Functionality - Confirm system health after rollback
Helm Rollback: 
helm rollback [RELEASE_NAME] [REVISION] --namespace [NAMESPACE]

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Best Practices

For comprehensive upgrade best practices, refer to these authoritative resources: Simba Intelligence Specific:
  • Helm Deployment Guide - Product-specific deployment and configuration guidance
  • Helm Chart README - Detailed chart documentation and upgrade notes (included with chart package)
Helm Upgrade Best Practices: Kubernetes Deployment Best Practices: Support Resources: For assistance with upgrade planning or troubleshooting, contact InsightSoftware Support through your standard support channels for expert guidance and best practices tailored to your specific deployment.
This strategic approach ensures your Simba Intelligence upgrades align with organizational standards while maintaining system stability and minimizing business disruption.