AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Managed Platform Updates Flashcards
Can an IAM user use the AWS Elastic Beanstalk command line interface?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
Yes. An IAM user can use their access key and secret key to perform operations using the AWS Elastic Beanstalk command line interface (CLI).
How can I keep the underlying platform of the environment running my application automatically up-to-date?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
You can opt-in to having your AWS Elastic Beanstalk environments automatically updated to the latest version of the underlying platform running your application during a specified maintenance window. Elastic Beanstalk regularly releases new versions of supported platforms (Java, PHP, Ruby, Node.js, Python, .NET, Go, and Docker) with operating system, web and application server, and language and framework updates.
How can I get started with managed platform updates?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
To let Elastic Beanstalk automatically manage your platform updates, you must enable managed platform updates in the Configuration tab of the Elastic Beanstalk console or use the EB CLI or API. After you have enabled the feature, you can configure which types of updates to allow and when updates can occur.
What kinds of platform version updates will managed platform updates apply?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
AWS Elastic Beanstalk can automatically perform platform updates for new patch and minor platform versions. Elastic Beanstalk will not automatically perform major platform version updates (e.g., Java 7 Tomcat 7 to Java 8 Tomcat 8) because they include backwards incompatible changes and require additional testing. In these cases, you must manually initiate the update.
How does AWS Elastic Beanstalk distinguish between “major,” “minor,” and “patch” version releases?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
AWS Elastic Beanstalk platforms are versioned using this pattern: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 2.0.0). Each portion is incremented as follows:
MAJOR version when there are incompatible changes.
MINOR version when there is additional functionality added in a backward-compatible manner.
PATCH version when there are backward-compatible bug fixes.
When and how can I perform major version updates?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
You can perform major version updates at any time using the AWS Elastic Beanstalk management console, API, or CLI. You have the following options to perform a major version update:
Apply the update in-place on an existing environment. See Updating Your Elastic Beanstalk Environment’s Platform Version.
Create a clone of an existing environment with the new platform version. See Clone an Environment to learn more.
How does Elastic Beanstalk apply managed platform updates?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
The updates are applied using an immutable deployment mechanism that ensures that no changes are made to the existing environment until a parallel fleet of Amazon EC2 instances, with the updates installed, is ready to be swapped with the existing instances, which are then terminated. In addition, if the Elastic Beanstalk health system detects any issues during the update, traffic is redirected to the existing fleet of instances, ensuring minimal impact to end users of your application.
Will my application be available during the maintenance windows?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
Since managed platform updates use an immutable deployment mechanism to perform the updates, your application will be available during the maintenance window and consumers of your application will not be impacted by the update.
What does it cost to use managed platform updates?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
There is no additional charge for the managed platform updates feature. You simply pay for the additional EC2 instances necessary to perform the update for the duration of the update.
What is a maintenance window?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
A maintenance window is a weekly two-hour-long time slot during which AWS Elastic Beanstalk will initiate platform updates if managed platform updates is enabled and a new version of the platform is available. For example, if you select a maintenance window that begins every Sunday at 2 AM, AWS Elastic Beanstalk will initiate the platform update sometime between 2-4 AM every Sunday. It is important to note that, depending on the configuration of your applications, updates could complete outside of the maintenance window.
The maintenance window is set on a per-environment basis, providing you the option to set different maintenance windows for your various application components or applications. This allows environment updates to be staggered if you do not want multiple pieces of your application to be updated at the same time. If you enable managed platform updates but do not specify a maintenance window, a default weekly 2-hour window will be assigned for your environment. If you want to change when maintenance is performed on your behalf, you can do so by modifying the managed update configuration in the AWS Management Console or by using the UpdateEnvironment API.
How will I be notified of the availability of new platform versions?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
You will be notified about the availability of new platform versions through the AWS Management Console, forum announcements, and release notes.
Where can I find details of changes between platform versions?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
Details on changes between platform versions can be found on the AWS Elastic Beanstalk Release Notes page.
What operations can I perform on the environment while a managed update is in progress?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
The only action available to you while a managed platform update is in-progress is ‘abort’. This will allow you to stop the update immediately and roll back to the previous version.
Which platform version will my environment be updated to if there are multiple new versions released in between maintenance windows?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
Your environment will always be updated to the latest version available based on the level (minor plus patch or patch only) you have selected.
Where can I find details of all the managed platform updates that have been performed on my environment?
Managed Platform Updates
AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Compute
Details for every managed platform update are available on the events page and are tagged with an event type of “MAINTENANCE.”
