consul/website/content/docs/upgrading/instructions/upgrade-to-1-10-x.mdx

---
layout: docs
page_title: Upgrading to 1.10.0
description: >-
  Specific versions of Consul may have additional information about the upgrade
  process beyond the standard flow.
---

# Upgrading to 1.10.0

<EnterpriseAlert />

## Introduction

This guide explains how to best upgrade a single Consul Enterprise datacenter to v1.10.0
from a version of Consul that is forwards compatible with v1.10. If you are on a major 
version of Consul prior to 1.8, you will need to complete and [upgrade to 1.8.13](/docs/upgrading/instructions) 
or higher before continuing with this guide. If you are already on major versions 1.8 or 1.9
this guide will go over the procedures required for upgrading to v1.10. This process
will require intermediate version upgrades to a forwards compatible release of v1.8 or v1.9
as well as other licensing related configuration changes. If you have multiple Consul datacenters
then they are upgraded in the normal order with each upgrade taking into account the instructions below.

For the open source version of Consul please follow the 
[General Upgrade Process](/docs/upgrading/instructions/general-process).

~> You can only upgrade to Consul Enterprise 1.10 from a version of Consul Enterprise 
1.8 >= 1.8.13 or 1.9 >= 1.9.7. Other versions of Consul Enterprise are not forwards
compatible with v1.10 and will cause issues during the upgrade that could result in
agents failing to start due to [changes in the way we manage licenses](/docs/enterprise/license/faq).

## Requirements

- All Consul servers, clients and snapshot agents should be on a version of Consul >= 1.8.0 and < 1.10.0. If
  they are not at the minimum version or higher, follow [normal upgrade procedures](/docs/upgrading) to get them there.

## Assumptions

This guides makes the following assumptions:

- You are familiar with the [General Upgrade Process](/docs/upgrading/instructions/general-process).
- You have the ability to run Consul CLI commands. 
- If ACLs are in use then you possess a token with at least `operator:read` permissions.

## Considerations

The main breaking changes in Consul Enterprise 1.10 that need special handling during upgrading are
the licensing changes outlined on the [Specific Version Details](/docs/upgrading/upgrade-specific#consul-1-10-0)
page. There are notes on that page about other changes that might cause issues during an upgrade as well.
You can find more granular details in the [licensing FAQ](/docs/enterprise/license/faq) as well as the full 
[changelog](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#1100-june-22-2021).
Looking through these changes prior to upgrading is highly recommended.

## Procedures

~> Any steps in the following section that mention upgrading servers/clients assume that normal safe upgrade 
procedures are followed. These instructions require licensing related configuration changes
needed to upgrade to 1.10, and also require intermediate version upgrades to ensure forward compatibility. 
Refer to our documentation for the [basic server upgrade process](/docs/upgrading/instructions/general-process), 
and for [autopilot assisted upgrades](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/consul/upgrade-automation)
for more information.

**1.** Retrieve the datacenter's current license by executing the following CLI command:

```shell
consul license get -signed > consul.hclic
```

  Note that the command can be run on anywhere that is running Consul already or from some other location
  that has network access to the cluster. If run elsewhere than other options to the command may be neede
  to direct the request to the right Consul API.


  This will save the license to a file in the local directory named `consul.hclic`. Having this 
  will be useful when preparing the license for the 1.10 upgrades later on in the process.

**2.** Take a snapshot of the cluster by running the following command:

```shell
consul snapshot save original.snap
```

  Note that the command can be run on anywhere that is running Consul already or from some other location
  that has network access to the cluster. If run elsewhere than other options to the command may be neede
  to direct the request to the right Consul API.

  Note that you will need to ensure there is enough disk space in the current directory
  to store the snapshot. In the worst case, the snapshot size could be close to the amount
  of RAM the Consul server processes are consuming. 

  This snapshot should not be needed but if something were to go wrong, having
  the snapshot would make it possible to restore the previous state. 

**3.** Determine if ACLs are enabled by running the following CLI command.

```shell
consul info | grep "acl ="
````

  If you receive output like either of the following then ACLs are enabled:

```text
Error querying agent: Unexpected response code: 403 (Permission denied)
```

```text
        acl = enabled

```

  Select the correct tab below based on whether ACLs are enabled or disabled or if you
  are operating Consul within Kubernetes.

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="ACLs Enabled">

**4.** Upgrade all server agents to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x release.

**5.** Upgrade all client agents to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x release.

**6.** Upgrade all [snapshot agents](/docs/commands/snapshot/agent) to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x release.

**7.** Take a snapshot of the upgraded cluster by running the following command:

```shell
consul snapshot save intermediate.snap
```

  Note that the command can be run on anywhere that is running Consul already or from some other location
  that has network access to the cluster. If run elsewhere than [other options](/docs/commands/snapshot/save#api-options)
  to the command may be needed to direct the request to the right Consul API.

  Note that you will need to ensure there is enough disk space in the current directory
  to store the snapshot. In the worst case, the snapshot size could be close to the amount
  of RAM the Consul server processes are consuming. 

  This snapshot should not be needed but if something were to go wrong, having
  the snapshot would make it possible to restore the previous state.

**8.** Pre-configure the server agents with a license.

  This can either be set with the `license_path` configuration item, the 
  `CONSUL_LICENSE_PATH` environment variable or the `CONSUL_LICENSE` 
  environment variable. See the [licensing documentation](/docs/enterprise/license/overview) 
  for more information about how to configure the license.

**9.** Upgrade all server agents to v1.10.0.

**10.** Upgrade all client agents to v1.10.0.

**11.** Upgrade all [snapshot agents](/docs/commands/snapshot/agent) to v1.10.0.

</Tab>
<Tab heading="ACLs Disabled">

~> We do not recommend running in production with ACLs disabled. An alternative upgrade
  path involves first enabling ACLs by following [this tutorial](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/consul/access-control-setup-production)
  and then proceeding with the instructions within the "ACLs Enabled" tab.

**4.** Upgrade all server agents to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x release.

**5.** Pre-configure the client agents with a license.

  This can either be set with the `license_path` configuration item, the 
  `CONSUL_LICENSE_PATH` environment variable or the `CONSUL_LICENSE` 
  environment variable. See the [licensing documentation](/docs/enterprise/license/overview) 
  for more information about how to configure the license. Note that while
  Consul Enterprise 1.8.13 and 1.9.7 have the ability to load the license
  from these configurations, it is intended to only be used during upgrades.
  Licenses loaded this way are not online reloadable. It is therefore important
  to promptly proceed with the upgrade and not leave agents in the intermediate state.

**6.** Upgrade all client agents to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x release.

**7.** Pre-configure the snapshot agents with a license. This is the same process that
  was executed for the servers in step 5.

**8.** Upgrade all [snapshot agents](/docs/commands/snapshot/agent) to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x release.

**9.** Take a snapshot of the upgraded cluster by running the following command:

```shell
consul snapshot save intermediate.snap
```

  Note that the command can be run on anywhere that is running Consul already or from some other location
  that has network access to the cluster. If run elsewhere than other options to the command may be neede
  to direct the request to the right Consul API.

  Note that you will need to ensure there is enough disk space in the current directory
  to store the snapshot. In the worst case, the snapshot size could be close to the amount
  of RAM the Consul server processes are consuming. 

  This snapshot should not be needed but if something were to go wrong, having
  the snapshot would make it possible to restore the previous state.

**8.** Pre-configure the server agents with a license. This is the same process that
  was executed for the servers in step 5.

**9.** Upgrade all server agents to v1.10.0.

**10.** Upgrade all client agents to v1.10.0.

**11.** Upgrade all [snapshot agents](/docs/commands/snapshot/agent) to v1.10.0.

</Tab>
<Tab heading="Kubernetes">

**4.** **If** the Consul servers are running outside the Kubernetes cluster, ensure they are upgraded
to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x before the next steps. Otherwise, this step can be skipped.

**5.** Upgrade to the latest Consul helm chart v0.32.0+.

**6.** Update the value of `global.image` in the values file to the latest 1.8.x or 1.9.x image.

  Additionally, ensure that the Kuberenetes secret with the license is specified in the
  values `server.enterpriseLicense.secretName` and `server.enterpriseLicense.secretKey`.

**7.** Upgrade the cluster.

  Follow the steps in the [Kubernetes Upgrade Guide](/docs/k8s/upgrade#upgrade-consul-on-kubernetes)
  to upgrade the cluster. Ensure you check the steps to upgrade the [servers](/docs/k8s/upgrade#upgrading-consul-servers)
  and the [clients](/docs/k8s/upgrade#upgrading-consul-clients).

**8.** **If** the Consul servers are running outside the Kubernetes cluster, ensure they are upgraded
  to 1.10.0 before the next steps. Otherwise, this step can be skipped.

  This will require pre-configuring the servers with a license
  before running 1.10. This can either be set with the `license_path` configuration item, the
  `CONSUL_LICENSE_PATH` environment variable or the `CONSUL_LICENSE`
  environment variable. See the [licensing documentation](/docs/enterprise/license/overview)
  for more information about how to configure the license. Note that while
  Consul Enterprise 1.8.13 and 1.9.7 have the ability to load the license
  from these configurations, it is intended to only be used during upgrades.
  Licenses loaded this way are not online reloadable. It is therefore important
  to promptly proceed with the upgrade and not leave agents in the intermediate state.

**9.** Update the value of `global.image` in the values file to the 1.10.0 image.

**10.** Upgrade the cluster.

  Follow the steps in the [Kubernetes Upgrade Guide](/docs/k8s/upgrade#upgrade-consul-on-kubernetes)
  to then upgrade the cluster. Ensure you check the steps to upgrade the [servers](/docs/k8s/upgrade#upgrading-consul-servers)
  and the [clients](/docs/k8s/upgrade#upgrading-consul-clients).

</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Post-Upgrade Configuration Changes

No configuration changes are required for this upgrade.