---
layout: docs
page_title: Upgrading Plugins - Guides
sidebar_title: Upgrade Plugins
description: These are general upgrade instructions for Vault plugins.
---

# Upgrading Vault Plugins

The following procedure details steps for upgrading a plugin that has already
been registered to the catalog on a running server. This procedure is applicable
to secret, auth, and database plugins.

## Upgrade Procedure

Vault executes plugin binaries when they are configured and roles are established
around them. The binary cannot be modified or replaced while running, so
upgrades cannot be performed by simply swapping the binary and updating the hash
in the plugin catalog.

Instead, you can restart or reload a plugin with the
`sys/plugins/reload/backend` [API][plugin_reload_api]. Follow these steps to
replace or upgrade a Vault plugin binary:

1. Register plugin_v1 to the catalog
2. Mount the plugin backend
3. Register plugin_v2 to the catalog under the same plugin name, but with
   updated command to run plugin_v2 and updated sha256 of plugin_v2
4. Trigger a plugin reload with `sys/plugins/reload/backend` to reload all
   mounted backends using that plugin or a subset of the mounts using that plugin
   with either the `plugin` or `mounts` parameter respectively.

Until step 4, the mount will still use plugin_v1, and when the reload is
triggered, Vault will kill plugin_v1’s process and start a plugin_v2 process.

-> **Important:** Plugin reload of a new plugin binary must be
performed on each Vault instance. Performing a plugin upgrade on a single
instance or through a load balancer can result in mismatched
plugin binaries within a cluster.

[plugin_reload_api]: /api/system/plugins-reload-backend.html
