Alibaba Cloud Realtime Compute for Apache Flink uses the enterprise-class engine Ververica Runtime (VVR) that is enhanced based on Apache Flink. This topic describes the engine version, the meaning of each digit in a version number, and engine service commitments and suggestions.
Engine version and meaning of each digit in a version number
A three-digit numbered scheme is used to specify the release version of VVR that is used by Realtime Compute for Apache Flink. Engine version numbers are in the Major1.Major2.Minor format. The following list describes the meaning of the Major and Minor parts in an engine version:
Major: indicates that major changes are made to the features of VVR or new features are added. The digit in the Major1 or Major2 part is increased based on the change scale.
Minor: indicates that improvements are made or existing issues are fixed. If multiple improvements are made, the digit in the Minor part is increased.
Version type | Description | VVR version update policy | Example |
Major version | The X or Y part in an Apache Flink version. The major version indicates new features and defect fixes. | Increase the digit in the Major1 or Major2 part. |
|
Minor version | The Z part in an Apache Flink version. The minor version indicates compatibility features and defect fixes. | Increase the digit in the Minor part. | Update from 4.0.1 to 4.0.2. |
Engine service commitments and suggestions
Compatibility
The VVR version is changed based on the X and Y parts in an Apache Flink version. Therefore, Alibaba Cloud does not commit the compatibility between the major versions of VVR in Realtime Compute for Apache Flink. Alibaba Cloud makes efforts to maintain the compatibility of the program logic, SQL syntax, and class library interfaces between different major versions of VVR in Realtime Compute for Apache Flink. Alibaba Cloud also provides documentation or after-sales service notifications for possible incompatibility.
Alibaba Cloud commits the compatibility of the SQL syntax, class library interfaces, and engine framework between minor versions of the same major version of VVR in Realtime Compute for Apache Flink. The compatibility in some aspects such as the business logic and data processing of a program is not committed. To meet compatibility requirements, we recommend that you update the engine version to the latest minor version of the same major version.
Defects
If you do not use the latest engine version, we recommend that you update the minor version of the current major version to fix defects. For example, if your deployment uses VVR 6.0.5 but the latest version of VVR 6.X is VVR 6.0.7, we recommend that you update the engine version to VVR 6.0.7 to fix related defects. If a major emergency defect occurs in a version, Alibaba Cloud releases an emergency version to fix the defect without perceptible impacts on your business.
You can view release notes in Announcements and Updates in the Realtime Compute for Apache Flink documentation.
References
For more information about how to query the Flink version of your deployment, see How do I query the engine version of Flink that is used by a deployment?
For more information about the version mappings between VVR and Apache Flink, and the release date and announcement of each version, see Release notes.
For more information about the service types, release status, and selection suggestions of Realtime Compute for Apache Flink, see Service types.