Upgrading Acquia Cloud Platform Database(s) from Aurora MySQL 5.7 to Aurora MySQL 8.0

This article only covers Acquia’s Kubernetes version of Acquia Cloud infrastructure, previously referred to as Cloud Next.

Acquia will be upgrading the version of Aurora MySQL running on all Acquia Cloud Platform non-production and production database(s) from Aurora MySQL 5.7 to Aurora MySQL 8.0.

Why is this happening?

Acquia previously announced the end-of-life for Aurora MySQL 5.7 on the Acquia Cloud Platform in June 2024. The updated end-of-life date is now 30 September 2025.

Aurora MySQL 8.0 will improve the performance and security for Acquia Cloud applications. This upgrade future-proofs our platform and provides you with a more robust, reliable, and innovative foundation for your applications. Additionally, this upgrade will support future Drupal core upgrades that you may want to make for additional performance and security gains, such as the upgrade to Drupal 11.

When is this happening?

The upgrade will take place during regional dark hours for the hosting region from 11:00pm - 7:00am local time starting on the following dates:

• Non-production environments: Maintenance beginning on 2 September 2025

• Testing period: a minimum of two weeks
• Production environments: Maintenance beginning on 8 October 2025

When and how will I know when the upgrade is happening?

Customers will be notified for their region's upgrade maintenance accordingly:

• An email notification will be sent 6 weeks in advance of the rescheduled maintenance timeline. This will include the planned days of the upgrade, but not the exact date per region. 

• An email notification will be issued two weeks prior to the non-production upgrades, and then another email notification will be issued with at least two weeks notice prior to the production upgrades. These emails will include the exact date per region for each environment upgrade.

All upgrades will occur during regional dark hours for the hosting region from 11pm to 7am local time. For more information about our scheduling and communications for platform maintenance, see Customer Communications.

How will the upgrade be conducted?

Acquia Cloud Next environments will be upgraded region by region during each region’s dark hours (11:00pm to 7:00am local time). All environments within a region will be upgraded during a single maintenance window. Upgrades across regions will be scheduled on a rolling basis over a 1–2 week period.

Your team will have at least a two-week, 10 business days, period between the upgrade of your  non-production environments and the upgrade of your production environment. This testing period is for your team to test MySQL 8.0 on your non-production environments and make any necessary changes before the upgrade is conducted on your production environment.

Can I delay this upgrade or opt out?

In order to uphold the shared responsibility model and compliance standards for the Acquia Cloud Platform, this upgrade is mandatory and cannot be delayed. Our shared platform is not optimized to support individual scheduling for database upgrades – this helps ensure operational consistency, minimize risk, and deliver a reliable experience for all customers.

Can I self-service my database upgrade to MySQL 8.0?

Currently there is not a self-service option to change MySQL versions for your database(s). The upgrade to MySQL 8.0 will be a managed upgrade conducted by Acquia on the scheduled dates.

Will there be downtime to my environment while the upgrade happens?

• Databases may experience up to 7 minutes of read-only downtime during the maintenance period. This downtime is necessary to synchronize recent changes between the old and new database environments and ensure no data is lost during the upgrade.

• During this downtime, only content that is cached will appear on sites. Dynamic or uncached content will not update, and any attempts to submit new data (writes) will be temporarily disabled until maintenance is complete.

How is Acquia preparing for the upgrade to MySQL 8.0?

Before the platform database upgrade to MySQL 8.0, Acquia performs a series of automated pre-upgrade checks to identify any compatibility issues that can block or impact a successful upgrade. These checks scan Cloud Platform database clusters and individual databases for a range of potential issues, such as unsupported objects, deprecated features, or internal database artifacts left behind from previous upgrades or schema changes. Acquia proactively resolves these incompatibilities where possible. For information about all the pre-check error descriptions, visit AWS Aurora MySQL. 

How can I prepare for the non-production and production upgrades?

• Review our Acquia Docs page on Known issues with MySQL 5.7 to MySQL 8.0 upgrades.

• Review your database schema and application code for MySQL 8.0 compatibility, especially custom SQL queries and contributed modules.

• Check for use of new MySQL 8.0 reserved words (such as rank, system, window) in table or column names, and update them as needed. For more information, see MySQL 8.0 New Keywords and Reserved Words.

Are there any other compatibility issues that could interfere with my application’s functionality?

Acquia makes no guarantee about compatibility with non-Acquia managed modules or custom code. As a result, regardless of Drupal core version, we recommend that all customers check their code ahead of upgrades beginning and utilize the testing period between non-production and production upgrades in order to ensure that their upgrade goes as smoothly as possible.

For information on known issues between MySQL 5.7 and 8.0, see Known issues with MySQL 5.7 to MySQL 8.0 upgrades. In any case that a customer encounters a critical issue with a specific environment, you can contact Acquia Support for further assistance.

What Drupal core versions are compatible with the upgrade to Aurora MySQL 8.0?

All Drupal core major versions supported by Acquia are compatible with Aurora MySQL 8.0 as of the following minor version patches:

What should I test after the upgrade?

• Test all major user, admin, and content workflows, including logins, content creation, and critical business functions.

• Check that all custom features, modules, and integrations that interact with the database work as expected.

• Review logs for SQL syntax errors or other unexpected warnings, especially related to reserved words.

• Run automated test suites (if available) and verify scheduled/background jobs, reports, and API connections continue to function normally.
  

I want to update my application to Drupal 11, but it requires MySQL 8.0. Is there anything I can do ahead of the platform upgrade to MySQL 8.0?

Yes, your application can install the MySQL 8.0 to 5.7 backport database driver to use Drupal 11. For more information and instructions on how to use this module on Acquia Cloud Platform, see MySQL 8.0 to 5.7 backport database driver for upgrading to Drupal 11.

What if my application is using a module to enable it to run a Drupal version that requires MySQL 8.0? Does this module need to be uninstalled before the upgrade to MySQL 8.0?

The recommended module to use on the Acquia Cloud platform is the MySQL 8.0 to 5.7 backport database driver. It is recommended to remove the module for code hygiene after the platform is upgraded to MySQL 8.0, but it is not required. Your application will not be impacted by having this module in place after the upgrade. For instructions on how to remove the module, see Uninstalling the MySQL 8.0 to 5.7 backport database driver module.

If you have further questions or concerns regarding this upgrade, contact Acquia Support by logging in to accounts.acquia.com and visiting the Acquia Help Center.