# Tips: Before Upgrade

<figure><img src="/files/CEMv16BDLGEcZysgY4C6" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

| Lenses Agent                                                                                                                                    | Lenses HQ                                                                                      |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| :white\_check\_mark: **Provisioning (v2)** is **mandatory. MAKE SURE PROVISIONING CONTAINS ALL CONNECTIONS INCLUDING ALERT & AUDIT CHANNELS**   | :white\_check\_mark: Main element managing all agents which are connecting to Kafka            |
| :x: It **no** longer uses the **ingress** controller                                                                                            | :white\_check\_mark: Supports only Postgres as a database                                      |
| :white\_check\_mark: All security elements are moved from `security.conf` to Lenses HQ                                                          | :white\_check\_mark: Holder of license                                                         |
| :white\_check\_mark: Remained the same in terms of functionalities; authentication and authorization were moved to HQ, along with new features. | :white\_check\_mark: Single pane of glass for all engineers to check the whole Kafka ecosystem |
| :x: **No Wizard / UI** for making connections between Agent and any component of Kafka ecosystem                                                |                                                                                                |
| :x: Cannot work without HQ                                                                                                                      |                                                                                                |
| :white\_check\_mark: PostgresDB is recommended for Production systems (H2 embedded available as of v6.0.6 for non production deployments)       |                                                                                                |
| :x: **No longer holder of license**                                                                                                             |                                                                                                |

Read more how they work together in [Broken mention](broken://pages/JFlnWS4MqfFF2FtZavsq)

## Pick a upgrade method

There are two upgrade methods and each has its ups and downs:

* <a href="/pages/cuehQ4GSv2Qp8WoTsw2G" class="button primary" data-icon="computer-mouse">Side By Side Upgrade</a>
* <a href="/pages/riFYaGjlbKV8TiBbcdfc" class="button primary" data-icon="computer-mouse">In Place Upgrade</a>

### Decision Matrix

| Choose Side by Side Migration When                                                           | Choose In-Place When                                                                               |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| SLA requires < 5 minutes downtime or follows blue-green deployment patterns.                 | Downtime windows are acceptable.                                                                   |
| Connections in Lenses ⅘ have been set by Wizard mode.                                        | Configuration is simple (already use Provision v2).                                                |
| Resources available for parallel infrastructure.                                             | Quick upgrade is priority.                                                                         |
| Wants to spend more time exploring IAMs and new potential permissions for certain AD Groups. | Enterprise deployment with SQL processors, complex data policies, and multi-tenant configurations. |


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

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```

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