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Compatibility of Couchbase Features, Couchbase Server Versions, and the Couchbase Python SDK

      +
      Features available in different SDK versions, and compatibility between Server and SDK. Plus notes on Cloud, networks, and AWS Lambda.

      The Couchbase Python SDK aims to run on any supported Python version in security or maintenance status — see the table below for supported versions.

      Couchbase Version/SDK Version Matrix

      Couchbase SDKs are tested against a variety of different environments to ensure both backward and forward compatibility with different versions of Couchbase Server. The matrix below denotes the version of Couchbase Server, the version of the Python SDK and whether the SDK is:

      • ✖ Unsupported: This combination is not tested, and is not within the scope of technical support if you have purchased a support agreement.

      • ◎ Compatible: This combination has been tested previously, and should be compatible. This combination is not recommended by our technical support organization. It is best to upgrade either the SDK or the Couchbase version you are using.

      • ✔ Supported: This combination is subject to ongoing quality assurance, and is fully supported by our technical support organization.

      Table 1. Recommended SDK per Server Version Matrix
      SDK 3.0, 3.1 3.2 4.0

      Server 6.0

      ✔

      ✔

      ✔

      Server 6.5-6.6

      ✔

      ✔

      ✔

      Server 7.0-7.1

      ◎

      ✔

      ✔

      Note the End of Life dates for Couchbase Server and SDK versions. See the notes there for Support details.

      Capella Compatibility

      At time of release, the Couchbase 4.0 Python SDK is fully compatible with Couchbase Capella, our fully-hosted database-as-a-service. To make development easier, the 4.0 Python SDK includes the Capella client certificate ready installed.

      Note, Capella is offered as a fully provisioned service, so the underlying version of Couchbase Server changes over time. For this reason, compatibility information between Capella and the SDK is available on the Capella compatibility page.

      Python Version Compatibility

      The Couchbase Python SDK aims to support Python versions in security or bug-fix (a.k.a. maintenance) status. The table below indicates the Python SDK version where support of a version of Python was added. Python versions that have reached their End-of-Life date are not supported.

      Because the Python SDK is written primarily in C using the CPython API, the official SDK will not work on PyPy.

      Other Python versions and implementations might work but are not tested and are not supported. Please make sure you run on one of the latest patch releases, since they provide stability improvements and security fixes in general.

      Table 2. Supported Python Versions
      Python Version Support EOL Couchbase SDK Versions Supported

      3.7

      until 2023-06-27

      from 3.0.0

      3.8

      until 2024-10

      from 3.0.0

      3.9

      until 2025-10

      from 3.0.0

      3.10

      until 2026-10

      from 4.0.0

      3.11

      until 2027-10

      from 4.1.6

      Platform Compatibility

      The Python SDK is built on top of the C++ SDK (not currently available separately), which is tested and supported on the following platforms:

      GNU/Linux

      • Amazon Linux 2.

      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 & 8 — but see note below;

      • CentOS 7 & 8 — but see note below.

      • Ubuntu (LTS) 16.04 (Xenial), 18.04 (Bionic), & 20.04 (Focal).

      • Debian 9 (Stretch) & 10 (Buster).

      • Alpine Linux (since Python SDK 3.2.7).

      Note, for stability reasons, CentOS and Red Hat ship with far older versions of Python and GCC than the ones needed to run the latest Python SDK. See the full installation page for details of using the EPEL repo, and other workarounds.

      Microsoft Windows

      Microsoft Windows 10 / All LTS releases from Windows Server 2016.

      Mac OS X

      The current and previous two releases of OS X. At time of writing (April 2022): 10.15 (Catalina), 11 (Big Sur), and 12 (Monterey). M1 ARM architecture is fully supported in the 4.0 Python SDK.

      Wheels are available for macOS, Linux and Windows — see the releases page for details.

      Although installable or compilable on many other platforms, we cannot provide support for untested combinations.

      ARM Processor Support

      Python 4.0 SDK supports AWS Amazon Graviton2 and Apple M1 ARM processors.

      Couchbase New Feature Availability Matrix

      Table 3. Couchbase Server and SDK Supported Version Matrix
      Server 6.0 Server 6.5 & 6.6 Server 7.0 Server 7.1

      Enhanced Durability

      All SDK versions

      Durable Writes

      Not Supported

      Since 3.0

      Collections

      Not Supported

      Developer Preview in 6.5-6.6, SDK 3.0

      Since 3.0.10

      Scope-Level SQL++ (N1QL) Queries & all Collections features

      Not Supported

      Since SDK 3.2.0

      Field Level Encryption v2

      Not Supported

      Since SDK 3.2.0[1]

      Request Tracing

      Not Supported

      Since SDK 3.2.0

      Distributed ACID Transactions

      Since Couchbase Server 6.6.1 and SDK 4.0

      Network Requirements

      Couchbase SDKs are developed to be run in an environment with local area network (LAN) like throughput and latencies. While there is no technical issue that prevents the use across a wide area network (WAN), SDKs have certain thresholds around timeouts and behaviors to recover that will not be the same once the higher latency and possible bandwidth constraints and congestion of a WAN is introduced. Couchbase tests for correctness under LAN like conditions. For this reason, only LAN-like network environments are officially supported.

      Couchbase does document, for purposes of convenience when developing and performing basic operational work, what may need to be tuned when network throughputs and latencies are higher. If you encounter issues, even with these tune-ables, you should attempt the same workload from a supported, LAN-like environment.

      Running on AWS Lambda

      AWS Lambda’s execution environment can freeze/thaw processes. Current Couchbase SDKs run background processing to check and adapt to topology changes in the Couchbase Cluster being used. Since the freeze does not allow this background processing and upon thaw the event-driven Couchbase SDKs may issue requests to an old topology, unexpected behavior including failures may occur. AWS λ does not provide a way to detect the freeze/thaw cycle. For this reason AWS λ is not currently a tested and supported platform for running current Couchbase SDKs.

      Serverless Environments

      SDK API 3.4 introduces better resilience in handling errors that may occur when running your application in serverless environments, in particular when processes are frozen or thawed, and a rebalance is required. This means official support for AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and GCP Functions — from Python SDK 4.1.0.

      Binary Size

      You may find the binary of the SDK from version 4.0.2 to 4.1.5 too large to run in some environments. If you cannot upgrade to 4.1.6 onwards for your app, the size can be drastically reduced, prior to zipping up the application, by running strip against it to remove the debug symbols:

      strip --strip-debug

      See the strip manpage for further details.

      Interface Stability

      Couchbase SDKs indicate the stability of an API through documentation. Since there are different meanings when developers mention stability, we mean interface stability: how likely the interface is to change or be removed entirely. A stable interface is one that is guaranteed not to change between versions, meaning that you may use an API of a given SDK version and be assured that the given API will retain the same parameters and behavior in subsequent versions. An unstable interface is one which may appear to work or behave in a specific way within a given SDK version, but may change in its behavior or arguments in future SDK versions, causing odd application behavior or compiler/API usage errors. Implementation stability is implied to be more reliable at higher levels, but all are tested to the level that is appropriate for their stability.

      Couchbase uses three interface stability classifiers. You may find these classifiers appended as annotations or comments within documentation for each API:

      • Committed: This stability level is used to indicate the most stable interfaces that are guaranteed to be supported and remain stable between SDK versions. This is the default — unless otherwise stated in the documentation, each API has Committed status.

      • Uncommitted: This level is used to indicate APIs that are unlikely to change, but may still change as final consensus on their behavior has not yet been reached. Uncommitted APIs usually end up becoming stable APIs.

      • Volatile: This level is used to indicate experimental APIs that are still in flux and may likely be changed. It may also be used to indicate inherently private APIs that may be exposed, but "YMMV" (your mileage may vary) principles apply. Volatile APIs typically end up being promoted to Uncommitted after undergoing some modifications.

      APIs that are marked as Committed have a stable implementation. Uncommitted and Volatile APIs should be stable within the bounds of any known and often documented issues, but Couchbase has not made a commitment to these APIs and may not respond to reported defects with the same priority.

      Additionally, take note of the following interface labels:

      • Deprecated: Any API marked deprecated may be removed in the next major version released. Couchbase recommends migrating from the deprecated API to the replacement as soon as possible. In rare instances, deprecated API may be rendered non-functional in a dot-minor release when the API cannot continue to be supported.

      • Internal: This level is used to indicate you should not rely on this API as it is not intended for use outside the module, even to other Couchbase components.

      API Version

      This release of the SDK is written to version 3.3 of the SDK API specification (and matching the features available in Couchbase 7.1 and earlier). For most developers, just using the latest version will be all that matters, and few will need to look at another of our SDKs. Just for those few that do, the table below shows each Couchbase SDK release version that matches the API version.

      Whilst these two numbers match for the C, .NET, Java, and Ruby SDKs, this is not the case for the others, as version numbers for individual SDKs are bumped up in line with Semantic Versioning — check the release notes of each SDK for individual details.

      Table 4. SDK API Versions
      API 2.7 API 3.0 API 3.1 API 3.2 API 3.3

      C (libcouchbase)

      2.10

      3.0

      3.1

      3.2

      3.3

      .NET

      2.7

      3.0

      3.1

      3.2

      3.3

      Go

      1.5 & 1.6

      2.0 & 2.1

      2.2

      2.3 & 2.4

      2.5

      Java

      2.7

      3.0

      3.1

      3.2

      3.3

      Kotlin

      -

      -

      -

      -

      1.0

      Node.js

      2.6

      3.0

      3.1

      3.2 & 4.0

      4.1

      PHP

      2.6

      3.0

      3.1

      3.2

      4.0

      Python

      2.5

      3.0

      3.1

      3.2

      4.0

      Ruby

      -

      3.0

      3.1

      3.2

      3.3

      Scala

      -

      1.0

      1.1

      1.2

      1.3

      SDK API 3.3: Introduced alongside Couchbase Server 7.1, adds Management API for Eventing and Index Management for Scopes & Collections; extends Bucket Management API to support Custom Conflict Resolution and Storage Options; adds new platform support for Linux Alpine OS, Apple M1, and AWS Graviton2; provides improved error messages for better error handling. and an upgraded Spark Connector that runs on Spark 3.0 & 3.1 Platform.

      SDK API 3.2: Introduced alongside Couchbase Server 7.0, provides features in support of Scopes and Collections, extends capabilities around Open Telemetry API to instrument telemetry data, enhanced client side field level encryption to add an additional layer of security to protect sensitive data, adds new platform support such as Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

      SDK API 3.1: Introduced alongside Couchbase Server 6.6, focuses on Bucket Management API, adds capabilities around Full Text Search features such-as Geo-Polygon support, Flex Index, and Scoring.

      SDK API 3.0: Introduced alongside Couchbase Server 6.5, is a major overhaul from its predecessor, has simplified surface area, removed long-standing bugs and deprecated/removed old API, introduces new programming languages Scala and Ruby, written in anticipation to support Scopes and Collections.

      SDK API 2.7: Introduced alongside Couchbase Server 6.0, with support for its new features such as the Analytics Service, improvements to Full Text Search, and support for more complex network configurations.

      Older SDK Versions

      Documentation on older, unsupported versions of the SDK — that have reached end-of-life — can be found in the archive.

      1. Field Level Encryption distributed as separate library.