CloudNativePG has announced the release of versions 1.26.0 and 1.25.2, representing significant updates for the PostgreSQL platform. This release marks the initial update following our entry into the CNCF Sandbox. It features declarative offline in-place major upgrades for PostgreSQL, improved startup and readiness probes for replicas, as well as declarative management of extensions and schemas. The deprecation period for in-tree Barman Cloud support officially commences with the 1.26 release.

CloudNativePG 1.26.0 and 1.25.2 Released!

The CloudNativePG Community is pleased to announce the release of:

• CloudNativePG 1.26.0, featuring major enhancements and new capabilities
• CloudNativePG 1.25.2, a maintenance update for the 1.25.x series
• CloudNativePG 1.24.4, the final patch for the now unsupported 1.24.x series

This is our first release since CloudNativePG officially entered the  CNCF Sandbox, a major milestone that reinforces our commitment to sustainable, community-driven innovation.

What’s New in CloudNativePG 1.26.0?

Declarative Offline In-Place Major Upgrades of PostgreSQL

You can now declaratively trigger  offline in-place major upgrades of PostgreSQL by simply updating the container image to a newer major version. The cluster shuts down safely, and pg_upgrade performs the upgrade, ensuring consistency. This long-awaited feature simplifies major upgrades while maintaining declarative workflows.

Enhanced Startup and Readiness Probes for Replicas

We've enhanced  startup and readiness probes for replicas, enabling both startup and readiness to be gated by replication lag. This means you can restrict promotion to only lag-free, synchronous replicas—greatly improving your high availability posture.

Declarative Management of Extensions and Schemas

The Database resource now supports the declarative creation of:

• PostgreSQL extensions
• SCHEMA objects

This makes it easier to manage consistent database configurations across environments.

Important Changes

Barman Cloud Deprecation Begins

With the 1.26 release, the deprecation period for in-tree Barman Cloud support officially begins. While it remains fully functional in 1.26, we strongly encourage users to begin planning the migration to the  Barman Cloud Plugin as early as possible and to adopt it for all new deployments. To help with this, we’ve published a comprehensive  migration guide.

In CloudNativePG 1.28, Barman Cloud will be fully removed from CloudNativePG’s core. You have until then to complete your migration.

This marks a significant milestone in CloudNativePG’s evolution—the culmination of a multi-year effort that introduced CNPG-I, our extensible plugin interface. It is a crucial step toward making CloudNativePG a backup-agnostic solution while enabling leaner operand images by removing the need to bundle Barman Cloud directly. It also paves the way for future plugin support for volume snapshot backups and restores.

Declarative Hibernation Support for the Plugin

The hibernate command of the plugin now leverages the declarative hibernation capability. Instead of executing an imperative hibernation process that destroyed replica PVCs, it will now annotate the cluster, aligning with CloudNativePG’s declarative approach.

Additional Enhancements in 1.26.0

Explore other improvements in this release, including:

• A new annotation to enable/disable webhook validation.
• A configuration option to set the TCP timeout for replicas, improving failover recovery speed.
• Integration with autoscalers like Karpenter for better node drain management.
• Experimental enhancement to the liveness probe to detect network isolation on primaries—allowing self-demotion in split-brain scenarios.

Dive into the full details in the  release notes.

Upgrade Guidance

We recommend all users:

• Upgrade to 1.26.0 for the latest features and long-term stability.
• If you're on 1.25.x, upgrade to 1.25.2 to stay up to date with fixes and improvements.

Support for the 1.25.x series continues until 22 August 2025.

Refer to the  upgrade instructions for a smooth transition.

Get Involved with the Community

CloudNativePG is a vendor-neutral, open-source project backed by a vibrant community of PostgreSQL and Kubernetes enthusiasts.  Join us to help shape the future of cloud-native Postgres!

Thank you for your continued support! Upgrade today and discover how CloudNativePG can elevate your PostgreSQL experience to new heights.

CloudNativePG 1.26.0 and 1.25.2 Released!