# Migrate PostgreSQL from Bitnami to Bitnami Legacy on Amazon EKS

## Overview

<figure><img src="https://2684022488-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FOFDKnFMEMmJjoclGx9Hr%2Fuploads%2FbBhHMlocL6mhBp9BAk9y%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=b4916bc5-647c-42f8-8572-53dd0908c3b2" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

PostgreSQL deployments on Amazon EKS often rely on Bitnami container images and Helm charts. With Bitnami moving most of these images to the Bitnami Legacy repository and completely deleting the public catalog (`docker.io/bitnami`On September 29, 2025, workloads still pointing to the old repository risk sudden failure.\
\
This guide shows you how to migrate PostgreSQL workloads on EKS to the Bitnami Legacy repository before the deadline, ensuring that your databases stay online, secure, and production ready.

## Problem

<figure><img src="https://2684022488-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FOFDKnFMEMmJjoclGx9Hr%2Fuploads%2FFbs2DbWduUjlFajy8R4C%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=634dcae1-14ec-4e70-b700-5b783140326a" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Organizations running PostgreSQL on EKS now face a **critical migration challenge**:

* **Repository deprecation**: `docker.io/bitnami` will be deleted after September 29, 2025.
* **Brownouts before deletion**: Between August and September, Bitnami is running repeated 24-hour outages of selected container images to raise awareness. This means pods may intermittently fail **before** the final deletion.
* **Pipeline disruption**: CI/CD pipelines, Helm upgrades, and auto-scaling events that attempt to pull Bitnami images will break.
* **Database downtime risk**: PostgreSQL is often the backbone of production apps; this downtime will lead to application outages.

### Business Impact

* **Immediate failures**: Expect pod crashes, stuck deployments, and broken upgrades as soon as images become unavailable.
* **Costly firefighting**: Engineering teams will be forced into emergency patching and redeployment cycles.
* **Operational risk**: Production databases could become unavailable during brownouts or after September 29 if migration is delayed.
* **Vendor lock-in costs**: Broadcom’s new model charges **$50,000–$72,000 per year** for continued access to what used to be free, pushing teams to either pay or migrate fast.

## How Stakpak Helps?

Stakpak provides a structured, automated way to handle PostgreSQL migration on Amazon EKS:

* **Detects risks early**: Scans your Kubernetes clusters for workloads still pointing to `docker.io/bitnami`.
* **Guides migration**: Walks you step-by-step through updating Helm charts and manifests to the `bitnamilegacy` repo.
* **Validates deployments**: Ensures PostgreSQL pods remain healthy during migration and after redeployments.
* **Automates consistency**: Applies the same rules across all clusters and namespaces, preventing drift and misconfigurations.

Instead of waiting for downtime during brownouts or scrambling on September 29, you can rely on Stakpak’s [migrating-bitnami-to-bitnami-legacy](https://stakpak.gitbook.io/docs/how-it-works/rulebooks/migrating-bitnami-to-bitnami-legacy "mention")rule book to migrate PostgreSQL smoothly so we keep your applications running without disruption.

## Step-by-Step Guide

### Prerequisites

1. [install-stakpak](https://stakpak.gitbook.io/docs/get-started/install-stakpak "mention")
2. Cloud provider credentials configured
3. Install kubectl (you can ask Stakpak to install it)

Now we can start

1. Open your terminal.
2. Open Stakpak by typing `stakpak`
3. Then just ask it to "Migrate PostgreSQL from Bitnami to Bitnami Legacy"

<figure><img src="https://2684022488-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FOFDKnFMEMmJjoclGx9Hr%2Fuploads%2FiUVVLZNz8XyNpTQpt48O%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=b9e4432d-0673-4949-ad37-c9076c8ba461" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Stakpak will scan the infrastructure and automatically recognise that we are using the new Bitnami images which require a subscription after August 28th, 2025.

{% hint style="danger" %}
WARNING: \
Since August 28th, 2025, only a limited subset of images/charts are available for free.

Subscribe to Bitnami Secure Images to receive continued support and security updates.

More info at <https://bitnami.com> and <https://github.com/bitnami/containers/issues/83267>  &#x20;
{% endhint %}

Then it will start taking the steps found in the [migrating-bitnami-to-bitnami-legacy](https://stakpak.gitbook.io/docs/how-it-works/rulebooks/migrating-bitnami-to-bitnami-legacy "mention") Rule book to migrate

It will start by removing the current PostgreSQL deployment&#x20;

Then it will start deploying the new PostgreSQL Bitnami legacy image

{% hint style="success" %}
Stakpak:                                                                                                                                                                      &#x20;

* Uninstalled the original PostgreSQL deployment: helm uninstall postgresql
* Deployed PostgreSQL using the legacy image: helm install postgresql-legacy bitnami/postgresql --set image.repository=bitnamilegacy/postgresql                                         &#x20;
* The deployment shows it's now using docker.io/bitnamilegacy/postgresql:17.6.0-debian-12-r4 instead of the  &#x20;

  regular Bitnami image. &#x20;
  {% endhint %}

## Extra Resources:

### References

* [install-stakpak](https://stakpak.gitbook.io/docs/get-started/install-stakpak "mention")
* [rulebooks](https://stakpak.gitbook.io/docs/how-it-works/rulebooks "mention")
  * [migrating-bitnami-to-bitnami-legacy](https://stakpak.gitbook.io/docs/how-it-works/rulebooks/migrating-bitnami-to-bitnami-legacy "mention")
* [Bitnami Premium Images](https://hub.docker.com/u/bitnami)
* [Bitnami Legacy](https://hub.docker.com/u/bitnamilegacy)
* [EKS Documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/)