PostgreSQL DB Upgrade

[tobias-graf-p]

Hi. I use Wiki.js in the current version in a Docker Compose project, but still with the postgres:11-alpine db image. The Wiki.js docs use v15. Meanwhile v18 is available.

Just replacing postgres:11-alpine with postgres:18-alpine failed. Can somebody point out what the latest supported PostgreSQL version for Wiki.js is and how to upgrade from v11 to ...?

[Jeevannaik66]

Hi. I use Wiki.js in the current version in a Docker Compose project, but still with the postgres:11-alpine db image. The Wiki.js docs use v15. Meanwhile v18 is available.

Just replacing postgres:11-alpine with postgres:18-alpine failed. Can somebody point out what the latest supported PostgreSQL version for Wiki.js is and how to upgrade from v11 to ...?

It seems you should not just switch the docker image from postgresql 11 to 18 right away. Major version changes often need more work since the data might not line up. I think checking the wiki js docs first makes sense to see what versions are supported. From there a staged upgrade could work or dumping the data and restoring it elsewhere.
The exact error when you try postgresql 18 would help show if this is about wiki js or the upgrade itself. That part is important to figure out. Some people might try jumping versions anyway but it does not always go smooth. The compatibility between data files tends to cause issues in these cases.
It feels like a proper migration step is needed here.

[tobias-graf-p]

It feels like a proper migration step is needed here.

Yes, I feel the same. :-)

I was mainly wondering what Wiki.js officially supports or recommends here. As mentioned above, the documentation still refers to PostgreSQL 15.x, which is also no longer the latest major version.

@NGPixel could you clarify whether upgrading directly to a newer PostgreSQL version is officially supported, or whether a specific migration path/version is recommended?

[NGPixel]

You can't change the postgres image version while pointing to the same data volume. Different postgres versions use different data formats.

You need to create a database dump from your current postgres container, create a new container with the latest image using a NEW data volume, then import the dump back into that new container.

This is out of scope of a Wiki.js documentation, but you can easily find tutorials on how to do that, or ask any AI to guide you, e.g.:

# 1. Dump from the running PG15 container
docker exec -t pg15-container pg_dumpall -U postgres > dump.sql

# 2. Stop the old container
docker stop pg15-container

# 3. Start a new PG18 container with a NEW volume
docker run -d --name pg18-container \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=yourpassword \
  -v pg18data:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  postgres:18

# 4. Restore
cat dump.sql | docker exec -i pg18-container psql -U postgres

[tobias-graf-p]

Thank you! Am not very familiar with postgres, so I was not aware of that. Will try that.