AlloyDB for PostgreSQL release notes

AlloyDB free trial clusters are now available in all regions. For more information, see the AlloyDB free trial clusters overview.

AlloyDB now supports up to 128 TiB storage per cluster in all regions where AlloyDB is available.

AlloyDB for PostgreSQL now supports in-place major version upgrade in Preview. You can upgrade your cluster that is compatible with PostgreSQL version 14 to 15. For more information, see Upgrade a database in-place major version.

Database server compatibility with PostgreSQL version 16 is generally available (GA). You can create AlloyDB clusters using PostgreSQL 16. Database Migration Service also supports homogeneous migrations from PostgreSQL to AlloyDB for PostgreSQL version 16.

AlloyDB lets you restart one or more nodes of a read pool. For more information, see Restart specific nodes of a read pool.

The alloydb_scann extension (previously named postgres_scann) is generally available (GA) for the AlloyDB service in Google Cloud. For more information about storing vector embeddings, creating indexes, and tuning indexes to achieve faster query performance and better recall, see Work with vectors.

AlloyDB outbound public IP connectivity on primary and secondary instances is generally available (GA).

You can now set up AlloyDB free trial clusters using a copy of your Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL backup. For more information, see Migrate from Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL to AlloyDB.

The AlloyDB Omni operator is now available in Preview on Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) connected. For more information, see Install AlloyDB Omni on Kubernetes.

You can now add the predefined CMEK organization policy for your AlloyDB clusters and backups. This feature is generally available (GA).

Added a tutorial that shows you how to set up a connection from an application running in a Google Kubernetes Engine autopilot cluster to an AlloyDB instance.

Query federation between BigQuery and AlloyDB is now generally available (GA). This feature lets you use BigQuery to query data stored in AlloyDB databases.

Database server compatibility with PostgreSQL version 16 is now available in Preview. You can create AlloyDB clusters with PostgreSQL 16 compatibility.

AlloyDB Omni now offers in-depth documentation that describes how to install and use AlloyDB Omni in virtual machine (VM) environments. The information in these documents is in addition to the AlloyDB Omni documentation that describes how to install and use AlloyDB Omni in VM and Kubernetes environments. For more information, see Get started with AlloyDB Omni on VMs.

The AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator version 1.1.0 lets you configure a load balancer using annotations.

The AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator version 1.0.0 and later lets you schedule matching new database Pods to nodes to balance node distribution across the AlloyDB Omni cluster and help optimize performance.

Enhanced Query Insights and active queries are now available in Preview for read pool instances.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.5.5 is now generally available (GA). This version includes the following features and changes:

• The AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator version 1.1.0 is generally available (GA) and it includes the following new features:

  • Cross-data center replication to support automated setup of disaster recovery.
  • Support for the Red Hat OpenShift container platform version 4.14 and later in Preview.
  • Variable number of nodes per read pool instance.
  • Customizable count for the number of failed checks before auto-failover kicks in for a High Availability (HA) configuration.
  • Version 1.1.0 of the Operator is supported on AlloyDB Omni version 15.5.5 and later.
  • A dedicated backup server for streamlined backup operations.
  • When you create a database cluster, the admin password secret is no longer deleted after you specify it.

• The postgres_ann extension is renamed to alloydb_scann. Before you upgrade AlloyDB Omni, you must drop any indexes created using the older postgres_ann version, then upgrade AlloyDB Omni, and then create the indexes again using the alloydb_scann extension.

• Various bug fixes.

Gemini in Databases assistance in AlloyDB for PostgreSQL is now available in Preview for standard and enhanced query insights, system insights, index advisor, and active queries. You can use Gemini assistance to help you monitor and troubleshoot your AlloyDB resources. For more information, see Monitor and troubleshoot with Gemini assistance.

Support for public IP addresses with AlloyDB instances and creating organization policies with custom constraints is now generally available (GA).

Cross-region backup location is now generally available (GA).

Support for querying exported Cloud Billing data using resource-level tags and resource names is now generally available (GA).

Performing a switchover with zero data loss in cross-region replication setups, to test disaster recovery (DR) or to perform workload migration, is now generally available (GA).

The AlloyDB free trial clusters are now generally available (GA). These clusters let you test the majority of AlloyDB features for up to 30 days through a 8 vCPU basic primary instance along with an optional 8 vCPU read pool instance, and automatically scale storage up to 1TB.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.5.4 is generally available (GA). This version includes the following features and changes:

• The simplified installation method for AlloyDB Omni is now generally available (GA). You can install and manage your AlloyDB Omni installation using common container-management tools such as Docker. For information on upgrading an existing AlloyDB Omni installation, see Migrate from an earlier version of AlloyDB Omni to the latest version.
• AlloyDB Omni supports the Podman container tool on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
• Support for Arm-based architectures is now available in Preview.
• Various bug fixes and performance improvements.

Query federation between BigQuery and AlloyDB is now available in Preview. This feature lets you use BigQuery to query data stored in AlloyDB databases.

Model endpoint management is now available in Preview for both AlloyDB and AlloyDB Omni. For more information, see Register and call remote AI models in AlloyDB or Register and call remote AI models in AlloyDB Omni.

Version 15.5.3 of the simplified installation method for AlloyDB Omni is now available in Preview. Updates include the following:

• Support for all of the environment variables that are supported by the official PostgreSQL Docker image.
• Various bug fixes and performance improvements.

Private Service Connect is now generally available (GA). Private Service Connect lets you connect to an AlloyDB for PostgreSQL instance from multiple VPC networks belonging to different groups, teams, projects, or organizations.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.5.1 and later lets you add sidecar containers to your database cluster when you use the AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator.

You can now set password policies for local database users.

You can now set maintenance windows for your AlloyDB clusters. If you do, then AlloyDB schedules non-emergency maintenance events to begin only during the weekly period that you specify. You can also opt in to receive email notifications of upcoming maintenance events.

AlloyDB now supports up to 64 TiB storage per cluster in all locations. For more information about available locations, see AlloyDB locations.

The following Gemini in Databases features are now available in Public Preview:

• Database Center: an AI-assisted dashboard that gives you one centralized view across your entire database fleet.
• AlloyDB Studio (GA): lets authorized users interact directly with the SQL database and run SQL queries from the Google Cloud console to access and manipulate data.
• Monitor active queries: monitor and troubleshoot the queries that are active in your database.
• Index advisor: a fully managed index advisor that tracks the queries your database handles regularly.
• Enhanced Query Insights: an assistive query performance diagnostics platform that lets you detect, troubleshoot, and prevent database and query performance problems in near real-time.
• 4-week query metric retention in the Query Insights dashboard.
• 5 new database insight recommendations.

To learn how to enable and activate Gemini in Databases, see Set up Gemini in Databases.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.5.1 has the following AlloyDB AI features available in Preview:

• Model endpoint management lets you maintain a per-project registry of AI model endpoints from a variety of sources and providers.
• The postgres_ann extension provides a configurable and highly efficient nearest-neighbor index powered by the ScaNN algorithm.
• You can query your database using natural language. This Technology Preview includes parameterized secure views, which let you narrowly define the scope of data that natural-language queries have access to.

You can preview a simplified installation method for AlloyDB Omni. This lets you install and run AlloyDB Omni on your environment using portable open-source tools, such as the docker command-line interface.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.5.1 is now available. This version includes the following features and changes:

• The AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator version 1.0.0 is Generally Available (GA). The operator includes the following new features:

  • Backups now support point-in-time recovery (PITR).
  • You can create asynchronous read pool instances.
  • High availability (HA) database clusters can have more than one standby replica
  • HA database clusters don't require any change in connection parameters when failing over.
  • You can use an HA standby replica as a read-only instance.
  • You can enable and configure logical replication.
  • You can set up physical replication between a primary and secondary database cluster running on two separate Kubernetes clusters.
  • You can restrict AlloyDB Omni pods to run on specific nodes in your Kubernetes cluster.
  • A number of database and system metrics are available.

• The pg_squeeze extension version 1.0 is included.

• Various bug fixes and performance improvements.

AlloyDB Studio is now generally available (GA). AlloyDB Studio includes an Explorer pane that integrates with an enhanced query editor, letting you browse, query, and modify your AlloyDB databases with this single interface. For more information, see Manage your data using AlloyDB Studio.

AlloyDB now supports continuous backup and recovery, and scheduled backups on secondary clusters. When you create a secondary cluster, any backup plans on the primary cluster are automatically copied to the new secondary cluster. For more information, see About cross-region replication.

AlloyDB Language Connectors are now generally available (GA). These language connectors are libraries that provide automated mutual TLS connections, IAM-based authorization, and Automated IAM Authentication when connecting to an AlloyDB instance. For more information about language connectors, see AlloyDB Language Connectors overview.

You can now use Key Access Justifications when working with external CMEK keys. This lets you view and manage external key access requests.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.5.0 is now available. This version includes the following features and changes:

• When installing AlloyDB Omni using its command-line tool, you can now specify the TCP port that the instance accepts connections on.
• Automated failover for highly available (HA) Kubernetes-based clusters is available in Preview.
• The following extensions are updated:
  • Updated pg_cron to version 1.6.
  • Updated pg_repack to version 1.5.0.
  • Updated pgfincore to version 1.3.1.
  • Updated pglogical to version 2.4.4.
  • Updated pgvector to version 0.5.1.
• The following extensions are now included:
  • Added autoinc version 1.0.
  • Added insert_username version 1.0.
  • Added moddatetime version 1.0.
  • Added tcn version 1.0.
• Updated core PostgreSQL compatibility to version 15.5.
• Applied security fix CVE-2024-0985 from PostgreSQL.
• Various bug fixes and performance improvements.

AlloyDB now supports the use of Google Cloud tags on cluster and backup resources. Tags are key-value pairs you can apply to your resources for granular IAM permissions. To learn more, see Organize resources using tags. To use tags now, see Attach and manage tags on AlloyDB resources.

You can now use Automatic IAM Authentication with the AlloyDB Language Connectors (Preview) to connect to your cluster. For more information, see Connect using the AlloyDB Language Connectors.

You can now configure instances to use 128 vCPUs and 864 GB of RAM per node.

You can now use public IP with the AlloyDB Language Connectors (Preview) to connect to your cluster. For more information, see Connect using the AlloyDB Language Connectors.

AlloyDB Public IP is now available in Preview. You can configure an AlloyDB instance to have a public IP address and accept connections from authorized external IP addresses.

AlloyDB Language Connectors are now available in Preview. These language connectors are libraries that provide automated mutual TLS connections, IAM-based authorization, and Automated IAM Authentication when connecting to an AlloyDB instance. For more information about language connectors, see AlloyDB Language Connectors overview.

AlloyDB support for Cloud regions in the events timeline is now Generally available.

AlloyDB now supports cross-project restoration. You can restore an AlloyDB cluster to a new cluster in a different Google Cloud Project.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.4.0 is now available. This version includes the following changes:

• pgvector is updated to version 0.5.0
• PostgreSQL is updated to version 15.4

The AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator version 0.3.0 is now available in Preview, and includes bug fixes and improvements to the operator. For more information about upgrading AlloyDB using the Kubernetes operator, see Upgrade AlloyDB Omni.

Automated and continuous backups are now incremental backups. This allows AlloyDB to protect your data using smaller files rather than full backups, reducing your storage costs, and improving the backup speed.

AlloyDB for PostgreSQL now lets you monitor your AlloyDB instances using the AlloyDB System Insights dashboard or by using the Cloud Monitoring dashboard. You can also view metrics on the AlloyDB cluster Overview page.

AlloyDB now supports up to 64TiB storage per cluster in the following regions:

• us-west1
• us-central1
• us-east1
• us-east4
• europe-west1
• asia-east1
• asia-southwest1

The AlloyDB columnar engine now supports columns with the array data type.

You can now restrict an OAuth 2.0 access token so that it works only for AlloyDB authentication.

You can now configure the AlloyDB Auth Proxy to automatically authenticate IAM-based database logins. This works only with the IAM account that you use to run the proxy client.

The AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator version 0.2.0 is available in Preview. This update adds support for AlloyDB Omni version 15.2.2, and includes various bug fixes and improvements. For more information about upgrading AlloyDB using the Kubernetes operator, see Upgrade AlloyDB Omni.

The extension oracle_fdw is added to the extensions supported by AlloyDB. The extension provides a foreign data wrapper for accessing Oracle databases.

The AlloyDB Omni Kubernetes Operator is now available in Preview. This extension to the Kubernetes API lets you deploy and manage AlloyDB Omni on a Kubernetes cluster.

AlloyDB secondary clusters now support read pool instances.

AlloyDB now offers basic instances, which are primary instances containing only one node, in one zone. Basic instances provide a lower-cost alternative to highly available instances, and are appropriate for use in non-production environments that don't require high availability.

Database server compatibility with PostgreSQL version 15 is now available in Preview. You can create a cluster with PostgreSQL 15 compatibility.

Maintenance operations on highly available primary instances now occur with less than one second of downtime for most workloads.

AlloyDB now lets you use and manage data-encryption keys residing outside of Google Cloud using Cloud External Key Manager.

When creating an AlloyDB cluster, you can now specify an IP range for private services access. This is optional; if you do not specify an IP range, then AlloyDB selects one for you.

AlloyDB AI, a suite of features for building generative AI applications, is now available with both AlloyDB and AlloyDB Omni. These features include the following:

• The AlloyDB machine learning (ML) extension introduces an embedding SQL function. It lets you create vector embeddings from text using ML models. You can store these embeddings as vector data, and apply them as input to pgvector functions.

• AlloyDB support for the pgvector extension brings performance enhancements for vector queries that run up to ten times faster than standard PostgreSQL, including an optimization that lets you create indexes of stored vector data using scalar quantization.

AlloyDB Omni version 15.2.0 is available in Preview. This version includes the following:

• Compatibility with PostgreSQL server version 15
• A command-line interface for easier installation and maintenance of AlloyDB Omni
• Integration with Vertex AI
• Guides for data protection using Barman and pglogical
• Various bug fixes and query performance improvements

A separate Technology Preview edition of AlloyDB Omni is available. It lets you experiment with AlloyDB AI functionality using two included machine learning models trained on Google News text.

You can now improve connection security by enforcing applications to connect to AlloyDB instances through AlloyDB connectors, such as the Auth Proxy.

You can now configure SSL enforcement mode to ensure that all database connections to an instance use SSL encryption.

Instance machine-type configuration has added an option for 96 vCPUs and 768 GB of RAM per node.

AlloyDB now offers committed use discounts (CUDs) that provide 25% or 52% discount on AlloyDB's compute resources in exchange for your commitment, and you can continuously use them for one- or three-year terms, respectively.

AlloyDB Omni version alloydb-omni-0.3.0-preview-postgresql-15.2 is available. This version introduces PostgreSQL 15, and applies various bug fixes and query performance improvements.

Cloud Asset Inventory support for AlloyDB is generally available (GA).

AlloyDB support for Data Residency is generally available (GA).

AlloyDB now supports setting up resource locations policies that can be used to constrain the location of new in-scope resources.

The extension pgvector has been added to the extensions supported by AlloyDB. For more information, see Announcing vector support in PostgreSQL services to power AI-enabled applications.

Vectorized join is available in Preview. Part of the AlloyDB columnar engine, vectorized join can improve the performance of joins by applying vectorized processing to qualifying queries.

Fault injection lets you test the resilience of a cluster's primary instance by simulating a sudden outage of its active node. This triggers the AlloyDB high availability feature that automatically promotes the instance's standby node to become the new active node.

IAM authentication for AlloyDB is available in Preview. You can add a role to Identity and Access Management (IAM) user or service accounts that lets them log into AlloyDB instances as database users.

The columnar engine now supports columns with the following data types:

• boolean
• bytea
• enum
• uuid

AlloyDB cross-region replication is generally available (GA).

You can increase your quotas by submitting a request in the Quotas page.

You can now manage the storage quota for clusters through the Quotas page.

Continuous backup and recovery is generally available (GA).

The AlloyDB FORCE_APPLY update policy is available in Preview. Use this policy to modify database flags and apply updates faster (within 1-2 minutes) to an instance.

The AlloyDB admin API now includes user-management methods. These let you use the gcloud command-line tool to manage the user roles of your AlloyDB clusters, in addition to the PostgreSQL functions already supported.

The storage per cluster limit has increased to 32 TiB.

The columnar engine now supports columns with json and jsonb data types.

The AlloyDB index advisor is now generally available (GA).

AlloyDB Omni version alloydb-omni-0.2.0-preview-postgresql-14.4 is available. This version reduces the memory requirement of AlloyDB Omni to 2 GB of RAM, and applies various bug fixes and query performance improvements.

Three metrics tracking node health are available in Preview. These can help you monitor the activity of individual read pool nodes, and investigate and troubleshoot issues with read pool queries.

AlloyDB Omni is available in Preview. AlloyDB Omni is a downloadable edition of AlloyDB for PostgreSQL that lets you run a containerized AlloyDB database engine in your own computing environment.

Cloud Client libraries for the AlloyDB Admin API are in Preview. Supported languages include C++, C#, Go, and Java.

Continuous backup and recovery is in Preview. This feature protects your clusters from data-loss events by letting you recover their data from any moment within a configurable window.

The AlloyDB index advisor helps you optimize your databases by observing the queries your databases handle, and then recommending new indexes based on these observations.

AlloyDB cross-region replication replicates your primary cluster's data and resources. It makes the data and resources available in different regions, allowing disaster recovery in the event of an outage in the primary region.

The AlloyDB Clusters page of the Google Cloud console displays summary cards and a resource table that provide an overview on the overall health of your databases. This helps you monitor the real-time performance of your database fleet.

Datastream, Google Cloud's change data capture (CDC) and replication service, supports PostgreSQL for source databases. This means that you can use an AlloyDB database as a Datastream source.

Google Cloud Database Migration Service has added support for AlloyDB. This service can make it easier to migrate your existing PostgreSQL data and workloads to an AlloyDB cluster.

AlloyDB supports customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK), an alternative to its default Google-managed encryption. CMEK is especially useful for AlloyDB users who need to manage their own data encryption keys in order to satisfy specific compliance or regulatory requirements.

You can view which zones host a primary instance's active or standby VMs.

When creating a primary or read-pool instance, or scaling either one, you can choose a machine size as small as 2 vCPUs with 16 GB of RAM.

VPC Service Controls, a Cloud-wide feature that helps mitigate the risk of data exfiltration, is available with AlloyDB.