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Elasticsearch and Kibana Upgrade Guide (8.14.2 → 8.18.4)

IMPORTANT

Create a backup before starting the upgrade process!

This page will guide your journey from 8.14.2 Elasticsearch/Kibana to 8.18.4

Pre-Upgrade Requirements​

Before proceeding with any upgrade, ensure you have:

  • Created a complete backup of your Elasticsearch data
  • Planned for potential downtime
  • Tested the upgrade process in a non-production environment

Elasticsearch Upgrade (8.14.2 → 8.18.4)​

Steps to Upgrade Elasticsearch:

  1. Backup Your Data ⚠️

    Ensure you have a backup of your Elasticsearch data before proceeding with the upgrade.

  2. Update the codemie-helm-charts repo

    Pull the latest version from the codemie-helm-charts repository.

  3. Update the Elasticsearch Helm Chart Release

    Use the following command to upgrade Elasticsearch:

    helm upgrade --install elastic elasticsearch/. -n elastic --values elasticsearch/values-<cloud_name>.yaml --wait --timeout 900s --dependency-update

Kibana Upgrade (8.14.2 → 8.18.4)​

Steps to Upgrade Kibana:

  1. Update the Helm Chart

    Pull the latest version of the values file for Kibana.

  2. Create kibana-encryption-keys Kubernetes secret (if not already created)

    Use the following command to create the secret:

    kubectl create secret generic "kibana-encryption-keys" \
      --namespace="elastic" \
      --from-literal=encryptedSavedObjects.encryptionKey="$(openssl rand -hex 16)" \
      --from-literal=reporting.encryptionKey="$(openssl rand -hex 16)" \
      --from-literal=security.encryptionKey="$(openssl rand -hex 16)" \
      --type=Opaque

  3. Delete the existing Kibana token secret

    Use the following command to delete the existing secret:

    kubectl -n elastic delete secret kibana-kibana-es-token

  4. Remove old Chart.lock and tgz files

  5. Upgrade the Kibana Helm Chart Release

    Use the following command to upgrade Kibana:

    helm upgrade --install kibana kibana/. -n elastic --values kibana/values-<cloud_name>.yaml --wait --timeout 900s --dependency-update
  1. Elasticsearch first - Always upgrade Elasticsearch before Kibana
  2. Kibana second - Upgrade Kibana after Elasticsearch is successfully upgraded and running

Post-Upgrade Verification​

After completing both upgrades:

  • Verify Elasticsearch cluster health
  • Check Kibana accessibility and functionality
  • Validate data integrity
  • Test critical dashboards and searches

Troubleshooting​

If you encounter issues during the upgrade:

  1. Check pod logs for error messages
  2. Verify resource availability (CPU, memory, storage)
  3. Ensure network connectivity between components
  4. Consult the official Elasticsearch/Kibana upgrade documentation