---
title: "Upgrade managed engines before standard · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/hosting-platforms/managed-engine-support
id: INF-60
level: Recommended
updated: 2026-10-27
build: a2a6bdfed830
tokens: 1204
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Upgrade managed engines before standard support ends

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Hosting platforms](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/hosting-platforms.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-27.

- ID: INF-60
- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Hosting platforms](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/hosting-platforms.md)
- Rule: Keep every managed database engine and Kubernetes cluster on a version in standard support. Start each upgrade at least 90 days before its end of standard support.
- Check: A monthly script lists every managed database and cluster with its version and end of standard support date. None runs in extended support, and none is within 90 days of the date without an open upgrade ticket.
- How: Cloud providers keep old versions running past that date, but they charge for it. Amazon RDS moves a database created through its API into paid Extended Support by itself, unless you turn that off. Amazon EKS gives each version 14 months of standard support, then 12 months of extended support at an extra cost per cluster hour. When extended support ends, the provider upgrades the engine by itself, at a time you do not choose. Read the end dates from the provider and put them in the same calendar as [Running software that is out of support](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/languages-and-runtimes/end-of-life-runtimes.md). Test each upgrade on staging first, as [Change staging before production](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/environments/promote-infrastructure-changes.md) says. Turning off automatic enrolment stops the extra charge, but the provider then upgrades the engine by itself at the end of standard support. A database you run yourself follows [upgrade the database before its support ends](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data/operations/supported-versions.md).

## Examples

**Using these examples:** they show one way to follow this rule. Keep the behaviour and the check, not the syntax. Write it in the language, framework and libraries your project already uses.

### Terraform example

```hcl
resource "aws_db_instance" "orders" {
  identifier               = "orders"
  engine                   = "postgres"
  engine_version           = "17"
  engine_lifecycle_support = "open-source-rds-extended-support-disabled"
}

resource "aws_eks_cluster" "shop" {
  name    = "shop"
  version = "1.37"
  upgrade_policy {
    support_type = "STANDARD"
  }
}
```

### Shell example

```sh
aws eks describe-cluster-versions --query 'clusterVersions[].[clusterVersion, status, endOfStandardSupportDate]' --output table
aws rds describe-db-instances --query 'DBInstances[].[DBInstanceIdentifier, EngineVersion, EngineLifecycleSupport]' --output table
```

## Sources

- [Amazon RDS Extended Support](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/extended-support.html)
- [Kubernetes version lifecycle on Amazon EKS](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/kubernetes-versions.html)

## Related rules

- ENG-71 [Keep one list of support end dates](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/major-upgrades/support-end-dates.md) in Engineering
- STK-15 [Running software that is out of support](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/languages-and-runtimes/end-of-life-runtimes.md) in Software choices
- INF-12 [Change staging before production](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/environments/promote-infrastructure-changes.md) in Infrastructure and environments
- DAT-58 [Upgrade the database before its support ends](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data/operations/supported-versions.md) in Data and databases
- STK-100 [Avoid Kubernetes until Compose and a managed container service fall short](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/delivery-and-infrastructure/avoid-early-kubernetes.md) in Software choices

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/hosting-platforms/managed-engine-support">Agent Wranglers infrastructure and environments playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

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- [Hosting platforms](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/hosting-platforms.md)