Before upgrading Logstash:
- Consult the breaking changes docs.
- Read the Release Notes.
- Test upgrades in a development environment before upgrading your production cluster.
While upgrading Logstash:
- If you use X-Pack monitoring, you must re-use the data directory when youupgrade Logstash. Otherwise, the Logstash node is assigned a new persistent UUIDand becomes a new node in the monitoring data.
If you’re upgrading other products in the stack, also read theElastic Stack Installation and Upgrade Guide.
See the following topics for information about upgrading Logstash:
When to Upgrade
Fresh installations can and should start with the same version across the Elastic Stack.
Elasticsearch 7.0 does not require Logstash 7.0. An Elasticsearch 7.0 clusterwill happily receive data from earlier versions of Logstash via the defaultHTTP communication layer. This provides some flexibility to decide when toupgrade Logstash relative to an Elasticsearch upgrade. It may or may not beconvenient for you to upgrade them together, and it is not required to be doneat the same time as long as Elasticsearch is upgraded first.
You should upgrade in a timely manner to get the performance improvements thatcome with Logstash 7.0, but do so in the way that makes the most sense for yourenvironment.
When Not to Upgrade
If any Logstash plugin that you require is not compatible with Logstash 7.0, then you should wait until it is readybefore upgrading.
Although we make great efforts to ensure compatibility, Logstash 7.0 is not completely backwards compatible. As notedin the Elastic Stack upgrade guide, Logstash 7.0 should not be upgraded before Elasticsearch 7.0. This is bothpractical and because some Logstash 7.0 plugins may attempt to use features of Elasticsearch 7.0 that did not existin earlier versions. For example, if you attempt to send the 7.x template to a cluster before Elasticsearch 7.0, thenall indexing likely fail. If you use your own custom template with Logstash,then this issue can be ignored.