asbackup Snapshot Consistency in Aerospike 7.x Rolling Upgrades

Goal

Use Aerospike’s asbackup and asrestore utilities to roll back a cluster that has begun a rolling upgrade on a 7.x release.

Constraints

During a rolling upgrade, the cluster continues to accept writes. The documentation does not state that asbackup acquires a read‑lock or freezes writes, so the backup may capture a mix of old and new data. Operators must decide whether the backup is a true point‑in‑time snapshot or whether additional coordination is required.

Open Questions

• Does asbackup support an internal lock or pause mechanism that guarantees a consistent snapshot during a rolling upgrade?
• If not, what combination of configuration changes or operational steps can be used to ensure that the backup reflects a single, stable cluster state?
• How does the backup format handle schema changes that occur mid‑upgrade, and what impact does that have on a subsequent restore?