Tracks for Amazon Redshift provisioned clusters and serverless workgroups

When Amazon Redshift releases a new version, it updates the version of your Amazon Redshift data warehouse (serverless workgroup or provisioned cluster). You can control whether your data warehouse is updated to the most recent release or to the previous certified release.

The serverless workgroup or provisioned cluster's track determines which released version is applied during a version update. Amazon Redshift updates provisioned clusters during the specified maintenance window, and usually updates serverless workgroups during idle periods. For details of when Redshift Serverless updates workgroups, see Updating serverless workgroups.

When Amazon Redshift releases a new version, that version is assigned to the current track, and the previous version is assigned to the trailing track. To set the track for your data warehouse, specify one of the following values:

• Current – With the Current track, you get the most up-to-date certified release version with the latest features, security updates, and performance enhancements.

• Trailing – With the Trailing track, you will be on the previous certified release.

For example, suppose that your serverless workgroup is currently running version 1.0.2762 and Amazon Redshift releases Redshift Serverless version 1.0.3072. If your track value is Current, your workgroup is updated to version 1.0.3072 (the latest release). If you set the track value to Trailing, your workgroup is updated when the next trailing track version is released.

With the trailing track feature, you have the option to run a subset of Amazon Redshift data warehouses in the trailing track. This allows for 1-6 weeks of testing and integration validation on data warehouses set to the Current track before applying the release to data warehouses on the Trailing track. By default, Amazon Redshift creates all clusters and workgroups on the Current track to take advantage of the most up-to-date, certified release. However, using the Amazon Redshift trailing track in your production environment, and the current track in your testing and development environment, gives you additional diligence and time to evaluate the latest release. The Trailing track ensures maximum stability, making it ideal for mission-critical workloads in production environments.

Note

The trailing track version may be the same as the current track version for short periods of time. This happens when the current track hasn't advanced to the next version. Normally, the current track version is ahead of the trailing track version.

Switching between tracks

Changing tracks for an Amazon Redshift resource is generally a one-time decision. You should exercise caution in changing tracks. For information about which features are in which data warehouse versions, see Cluster versions for Amazon Redshift.

If you change the track from Trailing to Current, we will update the data warehouse to the Current track release version. If you change the data warehouse's track to Trailing, we will update your data warehouse as follows:

• For serverless workgroups, we update your data warehouse's version during an idle period. For more details about how Redshift Serverless updates your workgroup's version, see Updating serverless workgroups.

• For provisioned clusters, we won't update your data warehouse until there is a new release after the Current track release version.

Tracks and restore

For serverless workgroups, a snapshot inherits the target Amazon Redshift data warehouse's track. For example, if you create a snapshot for a workgroup set to Trailing track, and apply that snapshot to a workgroup set to Current track, the workgroup will have a track setting of Current.

For provisioned clusters, a snapshot inherits the source Amazon Redshift data warehouse's track. If you change the source data warehouse's track after you take a snapshot, the snapshot and the source data warehouse are on different tracks. When you restore from the snapshot, the new data warehouse will be on the track that was inherited from the snapshot source. You can change the track after the restore operation completes.

Resizing a data warehouse doesn't affect its track.

Updating serverless workgroups

When an update is available to a workgroup's chosen track, Redshift Serverless usually updates the workgroup during an idle period when there is no pending track update request as part of regular patching. If the workgroup doesn't experience an idle period, Redshift Serverless waits 14 days before forcing the version update.

Redshift Serverless only updates your workgroup to the next higher version. Redshift Serverless doesn't skip versions when upgrading workgroups, and doesn't downgrade workgroups, even if the version for the workgroup's track is less than the workgroup's version.

For example, if the Current track is version 186, and the Trailing track version is 185, and you have a workgroup that has a Track value of Current, whose version is 186, if you change the Track value to Trailing, Redshift Serverless won't change the workgroup's version to 185. In this scenario, Redshift Serverless won't change the workgroup's version until the Trailing track version is equal to or higher than 186.

If there is a pending track update for a workgroup, Redshift Serverless won't update the workgroup until it applies the track change, and the circumstances for changing the version under the new track are met. For example, if your workgroup is set to the Current track, and the current track is 186, and you change your workgroup to the Trailing track, Redshift Serverless won't update the workgroup until after it applies the track change, and after the Trailing version is updated to a version equal to or higher than 186.

Note

Any existing operation on a workgroup, such as restoring from a snapshot, changing the KMS key, or resizing, only happens on the existing track. Redshift Serverless does not use the pending track for serverless operations.

If you have a pending track switch request, you can cancel the request by setting the track parameter back to its original value using UpdateWorkgroup.

Managing versions

A track is a series of releases. You can decide if your Amazon Redshift data warehouse is on the Current track or the Trailing track. If you put your data warehouse on the Current track, it will always be upgraded to the most recent release version. If you put your resource on the Trailing track, it will always run the release version that was released immediately before the most recently released version.

For provisioned clusters, the Release status column in the Amazon Redshift console list of Amazon Redshift data warehouses indicates whether one of your resources is available for upgrade.

Determining the workgroup or cluster version

You can determine the Amazon Redshift serverless workgroup version or provisioned cluster version engine with the Amazon Redshift console.

Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon Redshift console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/redshiftv2/.

Serverless workgroups

For serverless workgroups, on the navigation menu, choose Workgroups, then choose the workgroup name from the list to open its details. The details of the workgroup are displayed.

Provisioned clusters

For provisioned clusters, on the navigation menu, choose Clusters, then choose the cluster name from the list to open its details.

The details of the cluster are displayed, which can include Cluster performance, Query monitoring, Databases, Datashares, Schedules, Maintenance, and Properties tabs. Choose the Maintenance tab for more details.

In the Maintenance section, find Current cluster version.

Note

For provisioned clusters, the console displays the version information in one field, but it's two parameters in the Amazon Redshift API. These parameters are ClusterVersion and ClusterRevisionNumber. For more information, see Cluster in the Amazon Redshift API Reference.