Amazon Neptune: Engine version 1.4.3.0 end of life

When an engine version reaches its end of life, AWS requires an upgrade of the Neptune database to a newer version. From that point:

• New clusters or instances cannot be created with the version.
• Autoscaling cannot create instances with the version.
• DB clusters still on the version are upgraded automatically during a maintenance window.

AWS states that it sends a notification at least 3 months before the end of life, naming the automatic upgrade target version. Separately, patch releases are always installed automatically during the next maintenance window. Minor version updates are applied automatically when AutoMinorVersionUpgrade is true on the writer instance (not in a global database). AWS states that AutoMinorVersionUpgrade is only effective for minor version upgrades above engine release 1.3.0.0.

1. Find the engine version in the table on Engine releases for Amazon Neptune. The table has an "Upgrade to" column. Check the end of life date of the target version in the same table.
2. When the target is a new major or minor engine version, test your Neptune applications on it before upgrading. AWS points to the Neptune Blue-Green deployment solution for this.
3. Create a manual snapshot of the DB cluster before the upgrade.
4. Upgrade the DB cluster with the console or the AWS CLI, see Installing updates to your Neptune engine manually. With the CLI, specify the target engine version. Pending updates are listed in the Maintenance column of the Neptune console.
5. Plan for downtime: an update restarts the database on all instances of the DB cluster. AWS gives a range from 20 or 30 seconds to several minutes.