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

# Vault plugin upgrade procedure

The following procedures detail steps for upgrading a plugin that has been mounted
at a path on a running server. The steps are the same whether the plugin being
upgraded is built-in or external.

~> [Plugin versioning](/vault/docs/plugins#plugin-versioning) was introduced
  with Vault 1.12.0, so if your Vault server is on 1.11.x or earlier, see the
  [1.11.x version of this page](/vault/docs/v1.11.x/upgrading/plugins)
  for plugin upgrade instructions.

## Upgrading auth and secrets plugins

The process is nearly identical for auth and secret plugins. If you are upgrading
an auth plugin, just replace all usages of `secrets` or `secret` with `auth`.

1. [Register][plugin_registration] the first version of your plugin to the catalog.
   Skip this step if your initial plugin is built-in or already registered.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault plugin register \
        -sha256=<SHA256 Hex value of the plugin binary> \
        secret \
        my-secret-plugin
    Success! Registered plugin: my-secret-plugin
    ```

1. [Mount][plugin_management] the plugin. Skip this step if your initial plugin
   is already mounted.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault secrets enable my-secret-plugin
    Success! Enabled the my-secret-plugin secrets engine at: my-secret-plugin/
    ```

1. Register a second version of your plugin. You **must** use the same plugin
   type and name (the last two arguments) as the plugin being upgraded. This is
   true regardless of whether the plugin being upgraded is built-in or external.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault plugin register \
        -sha256=<SHA256 Hex value of the plugin binary> \
        -command=my-secret-plugin-1.0.1 \
        -version=v1.0.1 \
        secret \
        my-secret-plugin
    Success! Registered plugin: my-secret-plugin
    ```

1. Set the new version as the cluster's pinned version.

   ```shell-session
   $ vault write sys/plugins/pins/secret/my-secret-plugin version=v1.0.1
   ```

1. Trigger a global [plugin reload](/vault/docs/commands/plugin/reload) to
   reload all instances of the plugin.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault plugin reload -type=secret -plugin=my-secret-plugin -scope=global
    Success! Reloading plugin: my-secret-plugin, reload_id: 98b1e875-4217-745d-07f2-93d14219fb3c
    ```

1. **Optional:** Check the "Running Version" field to verify the new version is
    running:

    ```shell-session
    $ vault secrets list -detailed
    ```

Until the reload step, the mount will still run the first version of `my-secret-plugin`. When
the reload is triggered, Vault will kill `my-secret-plugin`’s process and start the
new plugin process for `my-secret-plugin` version 1.0.1.

## Upgrading database plugins

1. [Register][plugin_registration] the first version of your plugin to the catalog.
   Skip this step if your initial plugin is built-in or already registered.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault plugin register
        -sha256=<SHA256 Hex value of the plugin binary> \
        database \
        my-db-plugin
    Success! Registered plugin: my-db-plugin
    ```

1. [Mount][plugin_management] the plugin. Skip this step if your initial plugin
   is already mounted.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault secrets enable database
    $ vault write database/config/my-db \
        plugin_name=my-db-plugin \
        # ...
    Success! Data written to: database/config/my-db
    ```

1. Register a second version of your plugin. You **must** use the same plugin
   type and name (the last two arguments) as the plugin being upgraded. This is
   true regardless of whether the plugin being upgraded is built-in or external.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault plugin register \
        -sha256=<SHA256 Hex value of the plugin binary> \
        -command=my-db-plugin-1.0.1 \
        -version=v1.0.1 \
        database \
        my-db-plugin
    Success! Registered plugin: my-db-plugin
    ```

1. Set the new version as the cluster's pinned version.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault write sys/plugins/pins/database/my-db-plugin version=v1.0.1
    ```

1. Trigger a global [plugin reload](/vault/docs/commands/plugin/reload) to
   reload all instances of the plugin.

    ```shell-session
    $ vault plugin reload -type=database -plugin=my-db-plugin -scope=global
    Success! Reloading plugin: my-db-plugin, reload_id: 98b1e875-4217-745d-07f2-93d14219fb3c
    ```

1. **Optional:** Verify the current version of the running plugin:

    ```shell-session
    $ vault read database/config/my-db
    ```

Until the reload step, the mount will still run the first version of `my-db-plugin`. When
the reload is triggered, Vault will kill `my-db-plugin`’s process and start the
new plugin process for `my-db-plugin` version 1.0.1.

## Downgrading plugins

Plugin downgrades follow the same general procedure as upgrades. First,
register the version to downgrade to, pin that version, and finally issue a
plugin reload command. To downgrade to a built-in plugin, remove the version
pin and issue a plugin reload.

You can use the Vault plugin list command to check what plugin versions are
available to downgrade to:

```shell-session
$ vault plugin list secret
Name                Version
----                -------
ad                  v0.14.0+builtin
alicloud            v0.13.0+builtin
aws                 v1.12.0+builtin.vault
azure               v0.14.0+builtin
cassandra           v1.12.0+builtin.vault
consul              v1.12.0+builtin.vault
...
```

## Additional upgrade notes

* As mentioned earlier, disabling existing mounts will wipe the existing data.
* Overwriting an existing version in the catalog will affect all uses of that
  plugin version. So if you have 5 different Azure Secrets mounts using v1.0.0,
  they'll all start using the new binary if you overwrite it. We recommend
  treating plugin versions in the catalog as immutable, much like version control
  tags.
* Each plugin has its own data within Vault storage. While it is rare for HashiCorp
  maintained plugins to update their storage schema, it is up to plugin authors
  to manage schema upgrades and downgrades. Check the plugin release notes for
  any unsupported upgrade or downgrade transitions, especially before moving to
  a new major version or downgrading.
* Existing Vault [leases](/vault/docs/concepts/lease) and [tokens](/vault/docs/concepts/tokens)
  are generally unaffected by plugin upgrades and reloads. This is because the lifecycle
  of leases and tokens is handled by core systems within Vault. The plugin itself only
  handles renewal and revocation of them when it’s requested by those core systems.

[plugin_reload_api]: /vault/api-docs/system/plugins-reload
[plugin_registration]: /vault/docs/plugins/plugin-architecture#plugin-registration
[plugin_management]: /vault/docs/plugins/plugin-management#enabling-disabling-external-plugins
