Follow up on the latest improvements and updates.

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December 6, 2024

new

improved

AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud

AuraDB Professional

AuraDB Free

AuraDS Professional

AuraDS Enterprise

AuraDB Business Critical

Aura CLI - open beta

I’m pleased to announce the open beta for the new, Go-based Aura CLI.
You can find it here: https://github.com/neo4j/cli/releases, with native binaries available for all major platforms.
Feedback is welcome via the GitHub issue page here: https://github.com/neo4j/cli/issues.
The Aura CLI will replace the Labs Aura CLI and offers equivalent functionality, with the addition of commands for customer-managed keys (CMK).
The open beta will run for a short period before GA at the end of December 2024. At that time, the Labs Aura CLI will become read-only and marked as deprecated. It will still be installable and usable, but you are advised to transition to the new Aura CLI.
Thank you, and I look forward to your feedback!
Jonathan Giffard
PM, Drivers, CLI, GraphQL & Query API

December 6, 2024

new

AuraDS Professional

AuraDS: On-demand Snapshot retention update

We are updating all AuraDS users about an upcoming change to the snapshot retention policy for Neo4j AuraDS instances.
Effective from 13 January 2025
 onwards, new and existing user-initiated ‘on-demand’ snapshots will now be retained for 30 days 
from the date of creation.
What is an AuraDS snapshot?
A snapshot is a copy of the data in your instance at a specific point in time. They are listed in the Snapshots
 tab of the AuraDS instance. Neo4j regularly takes snapshots of your AuraDS instance, and you can request a snapshot to be taken on-demand.
What is changing?
We currently retain AuraDS user-initiated 'on-demand' snapshots for 180 days. From after 13 January 2025 we will retain these for 30 days,  and this will be applicable for both newly created and existing user-initiated snapshots.
Why is it changing?
To better align with AuraDB and ensure consistency across our Aura Tiers, we are refining our backup retention policy to establish a standard approach.
Will there be any changes to scheduled snapshots?
The retention period for scheduled snapshots is currently 7 days and will remain unchanged at this time.
Who can I contact for more information?
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team.
Thanks
The Aura Team

December 6, 2024

new

AuraDS Enterprise

AuraDS Enterprise: On-demand Snapshot retention update

We are updating all AuraDS Enterprise users about an upcoming change to the snapshot retention policy for Neo4j AuraDS Enterprise instances.
Effective from 13 January 2025
 onwards, new and existing user-initiated ‘on-demand’ snapshots will now be retained for 90 days
 from the date of creation.
What is a Neo4j AuraDS snapshot?
A snapshot is a copy of the data in your instance at a specific point in time. They are listed in the Snapshots
 tab of the AuraDS Enterprise instance. Neo4j regularly takes snapshots of your AuraDS Enterprise instance, and you can request a snapshot to be taken on-demand.
What is changing?
We currently retain AuraDS Enterprise user-initiated 'on-demand' snapshots for 180 days. From after 13 January 2025 we will retain these for 90 days, and this will be applicable for both newly created and existing user-initiated snapshots.
Why is it changing?
To better align with AuraDB and ensure consistency across our Aura Tiers, we are refining our backup retention policy to establish a standard approach.
Will there be any changes to scheduled snapshots?
The retention period for scheduled snapshots is currently 14 days and will remain unchanged at this time.
Who can I contact for more information?
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team.
Thanks
The Aura Team

December 4, 2024

new

Advanced Warning Aura Platform

AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud

AuraDB Professional

AuraDB Free

AuraDS Professional

AuraDS Enterprise

AuraDB Business Critical

Aura API rate limiting update!

We currently set a global rate limit of 125 requests per minute
 per client ID for all Aura API endpoints.
Starting 27 Jan 2025, we will adjust the rate limiting for the Aura API /oauth/token endpoint, which is used to obtain authorization tokens. The new limit will be set to 15 requests per hour
. 
Since each authorization token remains valid for one hour, we recommend optimizing your API usage in advance by following these steps:
Retrieve the token once per hour
: As tokens remain valid for an hour, reduce the frequency of token requests and reuse the same token for multiple API calls.
 Implement token caching
: Store the token securely within your system to reuse it for subsequent requests during its validity period, minimizing unnecessary calls to the endpoint.
If you need additional guidance or help, please reach out to Neo4j Aura Support. Our priority is to ensure fair and equitable access to our APIs for all customers.
We will provide confirmation of this update in January, along with a link to the relevant documentation. Rate limiting for other endpoints will remain unchanged at this time. 
Thank you,
The Aura Team

December 4, 2024

new

AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud

AuraDB Professional

AuraDB Free

AuraDS Professional

AuraDS Enterprise

AuraDB Business Critical

Neo4j Aura Database December release update!

The latest Neo4j Aura Database release has started to roll out, beginning on AuraDB Free, then progressing to higher tiers from later this week.

Updates include:

Language

Added support for dynamic expressions in
CREATE
,
MATCH
, and
MERGE
.
Enabled dynamic CSV column referencing in
LOAD CSV
.
Deprecated HTTP API; use Query API for executing Cypher statements.

Fixes

Kernel: Fixed issues with dense relationship property removal during recovery.
Cypher: Fixed missing nodes in queries with indexes and null properties.
Cypher: Resolved errors: key not found: VariableSlotKey and Type mismatch.

Full details of updates and fixes are available in the Neo4j Aura Release Notes

November 19, 2024

new

Aura | Regional Expansion

The Neo4j product team is pleased to announce regional expansion for AuraDB Professional, Business Critical and GDS. As of today Professional, Business Critical and GDS are all available in the following 22 regions, meaning you can run Aura services closer to your applications and business operations.

AWS

- ap-southeast-1
- eu-west-1
- eu-west-3
- sa-east-1
- us-east-1
- us-west-2

Azure

- brazilsouth
- eastus
- francecentral
- koreacentral
- uksouth
- westus3

GCP

- asia-east1
- asia-east2
- asia-southeast1
- australia-southeast1
- europe-west1
- europe-west2
- europe-west3
- us-central1
- us-east1
- us-west1

If you need a to run AuraDB Professional, Business Critical or GDS in a region that isn’t listed here, please let us know!

Team Aura 🚀

November 7, 2024

new

AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud

AuraDB Professional

AuraDB Free

AuraDB Business Critical

AuraDB v4 to newest (v5): Migration readiness available

Neo4j Aura are pleased to announce the general availability of the Migration Readiness
 tool for AuraDB v4
 customers. This tool will allow you to analyze your existing v4 workloads for compatibility with the newest (v5) version of Aura so you can implement any changes in readiness for the migration.
We recommend that you plan to migrate onto the newest version of Aura to get the benefits of the new release. The features include:-
New block storage format for better performance
Parallel runtime for faster execution of analytical workloads
Vector indices for semantic search & vector embeddings for GenAI use cases
GQL improvements, including graph pattern matching for improved Cypher queries
Attribute based access control gives fine grained security for read and traverse on property values
Change Data Capture for data integration patterns
Larger instance sizes
Secondaries for read scalability
And more…
AuraDB instances running v4 will soon have a new notification on the instance card in the console, advising that migration is recommended:-
New Aura Console
Follow the link to open the migration readiness report, where you can see the history of query execution and detected migration action items.
Select the time range (max. 24 hours) for analysis, and use the buttons to fetch deprecation logs. This will show details of the queries where amendment is required prior to migrating to the newest version. You can click the magnifier to see details, apply filters and link out to the query log analyzer.
Fetch deprecation logs can apply filters too
Clicking the magnifier provides details of the issue and resolution
You can also perform analysis of drivers and applications used to connect to your AuraDB v4 instance, and see which ones (if any) require an upgrade as part of migration.
Further details can be found in the documentation.
This tool is free to use
 and does not impact the operation of your database. We suggest you try it out to get an idea of how much preparation would be needed to be ready to migrate to the newest release of Aura and take advantage of the great new features. Once there are no detected issues, you can follow the documentation here to migrate your AuraDB instance.
We look forward to welcoming you on to the newest release of AuraDB as part of your migration, where you can take advantage of all the new features this offers.

October 30, 2024

new

AuraDB Free

Data Importer

🚀 Import from PostgreSQL

We’re pleased to announce the availability of our first new data source in the Console Preview. If you’re not already familiar with the Console Preview, head over to https://console-preview.neo4j.io.
With this release, you’ll see a new way of accessing import options under Data Services > Import. You’ll now find a new, more comprehensive set of data sources, the first becoming available being PostgreSQL, with more to follow soon. The existing CSV import option remains available.
Note: Your source database will need to be accessible over a public IP address to configure the data source. 
Once successfully connected, you’ll be guided through steps to create a graph model and mapping ready for import. Whenever possible, constraints in your source database will be used to create a configuration automatically.
The graph models and mapping are saved for reuse under the Graph Models tab.
In contrast to the CSV import flow which streams files from your client machine, the import jobs for new data sources now run in Aura infrastructure. You can see the status of Import jobs in the corresponding tab and long-running import jobs continue running after you log out of the console.
Once you’re ready to see the results of your load, head over to Explore or Query to start interacting with your new graph.
If you have any feedback, head over to https://feedback.neo4j.com/data-importer to share your thoughts.

October 23, 2024

new

AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud

AuraDB Professional

AuraDB Free

AuraDS Professional

AuraDS Enterprise

AuraDB Business Critical

Neo4j Aura Database October release update!

The latest Neo4j Aura Database release has started to roll out, beginning on AuraDB Free, then progressing to higher tiers during the week commencing 28th October.

Some highlights include:

Azure Uploads: Improved performance, increased timeout, and better error handling
Parallel Runtime: Now available on AuraDB instances over 1Gi, with no CPU limit. All available CPUs can be used.
Logging: More GQL info added to the JSON Query log for developers and data scientists.

Full details of new features and fixes are available in the Neo4j Release Notes

October 22, 2024

new

AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud

AuraDB Professional

AuraDB Free

AuraDB Business Critical

AuraDB Exportable Snapshot Format Change

We sent you an email on August 9th, 2024, about changes to the exportable snapshot file format in AuraDB. We would like to remind you that this change has now been rolled out to all AuraDB tiers (Free, Professional, Business Critical, and Virtual Dedicated Cloud) as of October 1st, 2024.
Key Changes:
The file format of snapshots exported* from Neo4j Version 5 Aura instances of all tiers (Free, Professional, Business Critical and Virtual Dedicated Cloud) has changed from dump to backup.
Previously, when exporting an Aura snapshot, you received a dump file format locally, which is named neo4j-dump(1), -dump(2), -dump(3) and so on. After this change, the file format is now backup, and the file name will contain the UTC timestamp when the snapshot is requested, so you can easily distinguish exported files from one another.
*Exportable snapshots are any that have been requested 'on demand' via Console or API, as well as the daily full snapshots that are automatically taken for AuraDB Professional, AuraDB Business Critical and AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud tiers.
This change does not apply to AuraDS instances or Neo4j Version 4 AuraDB instances.
If you have any questions, please refer to the FAQ below.
Best Regards,
Neo4j Aura Team
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAQ: AuraDB Exportable Snapshot Format Change
What is a Neo4j AuraDB snapshot?
A snapshot is a copy of the data in your instance at a specific point in time. They are listed in the Snapshots tab of the AuraDB instance. Neo4j regularly takes snapshots of your AuraDB instance, and you can request a snapshot to be taken on demand.
The daily full snapshots, which are scheduled and automatically generated in AuraDB (Professional, Business Critical, and Virtual Dedicated Cloud tiers), along with any snapshots you request 'on demand', can be exported to restore data to a different Neo4j deployment.
Why is it changing?
Changing Aura instances' snapshot file format unlocks enhanced efficiencies in creating and storing database backups. As a result, it will be up to 40-65% faster to generate on-demand and scheduled full snapshots for your Aura instance.
How will this change affect how you take and export snapshots?
Neo4j will handle this change entirely, so you don’t need to alter the way you take or download Aura snapshots.
However, depending on the deployment type and Neo4j deployment version you are restoring to, the workflow to use exported snapshots may change. 
How will this change affect how you restore exported snapshots to a new or existing database?
After the change, there will be new restrictions on using exported snapshots from Aura:
You will no longer be able to import Aura v5 snapshots to Neo4j self managed deployments in a version prior to 5.20. 
When importing data to Aura using neo4j-admin database upload, you should make sure the file containing data to be restored does not exist in a folder that contains another dump file with the same file name, as the command will attempt to upload both files to the same instance and breaks.
See compatibility matrix below for full details of the workflows and commands to restore and import Aura snapshots after the change.
Compatibility matrix - restore
Restore database to a previous snapshot: Works for any Neo4j Versions on Aura.
Compatibility matrix - import
From Neo4j Aura v4 to a Neo4j Aura v4 or v5 instance:
Same tenant: Follow “Clone to New/Existing” workflow on Console.
Different tenant: Export snapshot as dump and use neo4j-admin database upload to import snapshot. Snapshot files smaller than 4GB can be imported using Import Database on Aura console.
From Neo4j Aura v4 to a Neo4j Self Managed deployment: Export the snapshot as .dump and use neo4j-admin database load to import the snapshot. 
From Neo4j Aura v5 to a Neo4j Aura v5 instance: 
Same tenant: Follow “Clone to New/Existing” workflow on Console. 
Different tenant: Export snapshot as backup and use neo4j-admin database upload) to import snapshot. Snapshot files smaller than 4GB can be imported using Import Database on Aura Console.
From Neo4j Aura v5 to a Neo4j Self Managed version 5.20 or after: Export snapshot as backup and use neo4j-admin database load to import snapshot. 
From Neo4j Aura v5 to Neo4j Aura v4 or Neo4j Self Managed version 5.19 or before: Not supported
Will I be able to export historical snapshots in dump that were scheduled or manually taken when the change is released?
Yes, exportable snapshots taken before 9th September 2024 will continue to be available in dump format after the change is implemented, within the retention period of snapshots applicable to your tier.
Is the new backup format compatible with Neo4j Community Edition?
Yes, you can import backup files to deployments running Neo4j Community Edition.
Is neo4j-admin push-to-cloud still available for loading data to the Aura database?
Yes, you can continue using neo4j-admin push-to-cloud to load dump files in Neo4j version 4.4. However, you won’t be able to use this command to load backup files.
Does Aura still support import via dump files?
Yes. We continue to support dump files import to your Aura v4 and v5 instances using neo4j-admin database upload, or via Import Database on Aura console if the file is smaller than 4GB. 
Is backup file supported in Import Database on Aura console?
Yes, you can import backup files via Import Database on Aura console, as long as the file is smaller than 4GB.
Who can I contact for more information?
If you have any further questions about using the new snapshot format, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team (Available to AuraDB Professional, AuraDB Business Critical and AuraDB Virtual Dedicated Cloud users).

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