How to update the Aerospike feature-key-file

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How to update the Aerospike feature-key-file.

Context

The digitally signed feature-key-file (features.conf) contains those features that are enabled for the Aerospike server, such as: All Flash (index-type flash), Compression, Encryption At Rest, LDAP, Persistent Memory (index-type pmem), Strong Consistency, etc.

As of version 4.6, this file is required for all Enterprise Edition server nodes, whether an optional feature such as Strong Consistency is enabled or not.

This knowledge base article describes how to update the file and/or its location

Customers currently not using a feature key file should contact Aerospike Support (support@aerospike.com) prior to upgrading to version 4.6.0.2 or above, in order to get their feature key file.

Method

feature-key-file name and location same as previously configured Aerospike Configuration File (aerospike.conf)

If maintaining the same feature-key-file (e.g. features.conf) name and location (e.g. /etc/aerospike/features.conf).

Step 1:

Simply, replace the original feature-key-file (features.conf) with the new feature-key-file (features.conf).

Note:

There is no need to perform a restart. The feature key expiration date is only checked on startup. Therefore, upon expiration, the Aerospike server will continue to run, but the updated feature key will not be enabled until a subsequent restart.

feature-key-file name or location changed from previously configured Aerospike Configuration File (aerospike.conf)

If changing the feature-key-file name or location

Step 1:

Replace the new feature-key-file name at the desired location.

Step 2:

Replace the Aerospike Configuration File (e.g. /etc/aerospike/aerospike.conf) feature-key-file configuration parameter value to the updated feature-key-file location and filename.

Step 3:

Optional - It is a good practice to perform a rolling restart of all nodes in the cluster at this point to make sure the configuration is correct and avoid potential surprises on a later restart which could be unexpected.

Note:

The feature-key-file value is a static configuration parameter that can only be set when starting the node. Upon changing the feature-key-file configuration parameter value a rolling restart would have to be performed on all of the nodes.

Reference

Keywords

FEATURE-KEY-FILE FEATURE KEY FLASH COMPRESSION ENCRYPTION LDAP PERSISTENT MEMORY STRONG CONSISTENCY

Timestamp

August 2019