Data Productivity Cloud release FAQ
This document provides answers to some frequently asked questions regarding the patching and upgrading of the Data Productivity Cloud. The Data Productivity Cloud is a SaaS product, and as such the nature of how we release patches and upgrades differs from the traditional on-premises software model.
Note
This document will refer to differences between Full SaaS and Hybrid SaaS operating models. For a full discussion of this, read Matillion Full SaaS vs Hybrid SaaS.
Frequently asked questions
How often does the Data Productivity Cloud get patched?
We aim to release twice a week, but we will occasionally skip a release slot. We may chose to deploy additional hotfixes outside of this cadence if there's an urgent security patch or bug fix.
Not all releases will involve a new version of the agent, so customers in a Hybrid SaaS environment won't need to upgrade their hosted agents twice a week. We will communicate when a new agent version is released.
Is there a regular schedule of patching?
Our scheduled release slots are Tuesday and Thursday at 9am (GMT/BST).
Releases of new agent software to Hybrid SaaS customers will follow the same schedule, but will have less frequent releases.
You can see what features are coming on the Matillion Roadmap, but we typically don't communicate a more specific timeline of when features will be released.
Are there major and minor releases and version increments, and how does that map into the release schedule?
You won't typically see a release version (major or minor) in our applications.
The exceptions are our public API endpoints, which are prefixed with major version numbers (for example, /v1/projects) to ensure consistency with any integrations you create.
For Hybrid SaaS customers, there will be two streams of agent release: Latest and Stable. Latest will be the most recent agent version, whereas Stable will be a slower-moving version. We will always support the current Latest and Stable versions, as well as one previous Stable version. We expect Stable versions to have a supported life of approximately three months.
Does Matillion communicate patch windows to customers and give them advance notice?
We leverage zero-down-time deployments for the vast majority of our releases, meaning that as a user you're unlikely to notice we've updated the software.
On the few occasions where there may be impact to service availability, we schedule and communicate a maintenance window. These are designed to minimize disruption, and we follow a strict communication strategy ahead of time. For a normal maintenance window you can expect the following communications:
- Two weeks before: We notify you of any planned maintenance windows via email and in-app notifications.
- One week before: We send reminders about the upcoming maintenance.
- On the day: We update our status page to reflect the maintenance activity and expected downtime.
- Post-maintenance: Once the maintenance is complete, we will notify you and update the status page to confirm that systems are fully operational.
In rare cases where immediate maintenance is required, we may need to perform emergency updates with shorter notice. Even in these situations, we strive to inform you as quickly as possible and work to minimize any disruption.
Does Matillion include any release notes detailing specific features, components, and functionality affected by a patch?
You can see a list of released features in our changelog.
Can customers opt to delay the uptake of a specific patch?
No, in full SaaS deployments Matillion manages the releases for you.
For Hybrid SaaS customers, using the Stable release option (described above) allows you to delay the installation of the Latest release.
Are there guidelines and best practices around regression testing a patch released by Matillion?
In a traditional on-premises software model, a customer upgrades or patches their development instance first, performs a full regression test of their pipelines and if successful promotes the upgrade or patch to their production. In Full SaaS, this cycle isn't necessary. Matillion controls when updates are released, and you will always use the latest version of the software for all instances.
However, you can rest assured that we have gone through an extensive design and review process to ensure backwards compatibility wherever possible, and we undertake a rigorous testing process to ensure there will be no problems caused by a new release.
For Hybrid SaaS customers, our recommendation is to run Production instances on a Stable version, and Development instances on the Latest version (see above). Our Stable versions are taken from an older Latest version, so you have an opportunity to identify and resolve any issues before they hit production.
If a patch introduces a regression, what is the process of mitigating this?
In the very rare occasion that a bug has been introduced, raise a support case at https://support.matillion.com/, and our team will quickly respond to help you.
Can we back out a patch?
Hybrid SaaS customers can switch from Latest to Stable, or from the current Stable to the previous Stable version. This can be managed through your container orchestrator.