Upgrading an OpenSearch version or changing the instance type

If you have an OpenSearch domain in the Cloud Platform, you should keep it up to date and use the most cost effective instance type for your needs.

AWS publishes Supported upgrade paths for Amazon OpenSearch Service guide to help you keep up to date.

Upgrading an OpenSearch version

Note: This will cause some downtime (usually upwards of 60 minutes, dependent on how much data is in your domain - an empty domain takes 30 minutes).

To upgrade your OpenSearch domain version, complete these three steps:

Raise and merge a PR to tell the apply pipeline to skip your namespace
Raise and merge a PR that updates the following attributes for your OpenSearch domain, which is typically in resources/opensearch.tf in your namespace:
```
module "opensearch" {
  ...
  engine_version = "OpenSearch_1.3"
  ...
}
```
As soon as this PR is merged, the upgrade will begin.
Raise and merge a PR to remove the APPLY_PIPELINE_SKIP_THIS_NAMESPACE added in step 1

Upgrade paths

OpenSearch does not always maintain backwards compatibility when releasing a new major version. This means you need to check for any breaking changes in the version you are upgrading to.

You should read the AWS documentation on Supported upgrade paths for OpenSearch domains to understand how to upgrade your domain to the latest OpenSearch version, including any breaking changes.

Changing your OpenSearch instance types

Note: This will cause some downtime (usually upwards of 30 minutes, dependent on how much data is in your domain - an empty domain takes 15 minutes).

To change your OpenSearch instance types, complete these three steps:

Raise and merge a PR to tell the apply pipeline to skip your namespace
Raise and merge a PR that updates the instance_type, dedicated_master_type or warm_type attributes for your OpenSearch domain, which is typically in resources/opensearch.tf in your namespace:
```
module "opensearch" {
  ...
  cluster_config = {
    # instance type
    ...
    instance_type = "m6g.large.search"
    ...

    # or dedicated primary nodes
    ...
    dedicated_master_type "m6g.large.search"
    ...

    # or warm nodes
    ...
    warm_type = "ultrawarm1.medium.search"
    ...
  }
  ...
}
```
The Creating an OpenSearch domain guide can help you decide which cluster_config to use. You should note that if your instance type is of the t3 class, you cannot use dedicated primary nodes or warm nodes.

As soon as this PR is merged, the instance type change will begin.
Raise and merge a PR to remove the APPLY_PIPELINE_SKIP_THIS_NAMESPACE file added in step 1.

This page was last reviewed on 27 January 2025. It needs to be reviewed again on 27 January 2026 by the page owner #cloud-platform .