PostgreSQL major versions¶

There are two generations of charms stored under the same charm name: postgresql. In these docs, we refer to them as “legacy” and “modern”.

K8s

There are two generations of charms stored under the same charm name: postgresql-k8s. In these docs, we refer to them as “legacy” and “modern”.

They are shipped in the following Charmhub tracks :

Charm name	Charmhub channel	Type	Status
PostgreSQL 16	`16/stable`	modern	Latest version - new features are released here
PostgreSQL 14	`14/stable`	modern	In maintenance mode - bug fixes and security updates only. See: PostgreSQL 14 documentation
Legacy PostgreSQL charm	`latest/stable`	legacy	Deprecated. Migrate to 14 as soon as possible.

Legacy charm (deprecated): Also known as a Reactive charm . Found in the Charmhub channel latest/stable.; Provided db and db-admin endpoints for the pgsql interface.
Modern charm: Also known as an Ops charm . Found in the Charmhub channels 14/stable and 16/stable.; 14/stable provides legacy endpoints and new database endpoint for the postgresql_client interface.; 16/stable does not provide legacy endpoints - only the new database database endpoint for the postgresql_client interface.

Choosing a version¶

For new deployments: Use PostgreSQL 16 for the latest features and long-term support
For existing PostgreSQL 14 deployments: Continue using PostgreSQL 14 or plan migration to 16
For legacy charm users: Migrate to PostgreSQL 14 as soon as possible

Latest stable version with active feature development.

Base: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble)
Supported architectures: amd64, arm64
Channel: 16/stable (latest development available for testing in 16/edge)
Juju version: Requires Juju 3.6+ LTS
Support status: Active development and full support

Juju spaces - Enhanced networking capabilities for complex deployment scenarios
Juju user secrets - Secure management of the charm’s internal passwords
Improved security hardening - Enhanced security posture and best practices
TLS v4 library migration
- New endpoints client-certificates and peer-certificates
- Endpoint peer-interfaces uses TLS by default
- See all endpoints on Charmhub
Timescale Community Edition replaces Timescale Apache 2
Improved built-in roles - Enhanced role-based access control system
New refresh process for in-place upgrades

Important changes to keep in mind when migrating from 14 to 16:

Legacy interface psql - Endpoints db and db-admin are no longer supported
- See Interfaces and endpoints for current supported interfaces
Support for Juju < v3.6 removed
- Charmed PostgreSQL 16 requires Juju 3.6+ LTS due to Juju secrets support
Juju actions get-password and set-password removed
- Replaced by Juju secrets for enhanced security
Timescale Apache 2 edition replaced
- Now uses Timescale Community edition
Charm action set-tls-private-key removed
- Will be re-introduced as Juju User Secrets in future releases
Charm actions renamed for consistency:
- pre-upgrade-check → pre-refresh-check
- resume-upgrade → resume-refresh
- Changes align with juju refresh terminology
Charm endpoint certificates split into separate endpoints:
- client-certificates - For client certificate management
- peer-certificates - For peer-to-peer certificate management

For detailed information about all PostgreSQL 16 releases, see Release notes.

Maintenance mode with bug fixes and security updates only.

Deployment on multiple cloud services, including Sunbeam, MAAS, AWS, GCE, and Azure
Juju storage - Flexible storage configuration options
Back up and restore, including point-in-time recovery
COS integration - Enable observability tools like Grafana, Loki, Tempo, and Parca
TLS integration
LDAP integration - Centralised authentication for PostgreSQL clusters
amd64 and arm64architecture support

For detailed information about all PostgreSQL 14 releases, see the PostgreSQL 14 Releases page .