Re: Direct Major Upgrade (13.7 → 17.6) with pg_upgrade: Clarifying the need for Intermediate Minor Fixes/Scripts

On Wed, Oct 1, 2025 at 3:47 AM Vu Le (JData - HN) <dba4(at)jprotech(dot)com(dot)vn>
wrote:

> My question is: When performing a direct jump from 13.7 to 17.6 using
> pg_upgrade, do I need to manually identify and execute the cumulative extra
> works/fixes from ALL the skipped intermediate versions (13.8, 13.9, 14.x,
> 15.x, 16.x)?
>

Yes. Although with common sense, e.g. no need to reindex something twice.

Is there an official best practice document that clarifies how
> pg_upgrade handles these "extra works" from skipped minor releases?
>

These are not handled by pg_upgrade, hence the "extra". As you noted above,
it's a manual step of reading the release notes and taking steps depending
on your particular database. Keep in mind, these steps are very rare.

Does pg_upgrade implicitly incorporate all necessary structural fixes from
> the minor versions between 13.7 and 17.6?
>

Yes

> Has anyone in the community performed a similar large jump and found
> unexpected issues due to skipping these intermediate manual steps?
>

I've jumped many versions, many times, for many clients. Just follow the
recommended steps and all will be well.

Cheers,
Greg

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