With AppCat v4.185.0, PostgreSQL based on CloudNativePG reaches full maturity. What started as a new foundation for running PostgreSQL on Kubernetes is now feature complete within AppCat.

👉 Full release details.

👉 Learn more about PostgreSQL with CloudNativePG.

A key step towards this milestone was closing the last remaining gap: self service restore.

Self Service Restore Completes the Feature Set

Self service restore for PostgreSQL was the final missing piece. With this feature now available, the CloudNativePG-based PostgreSQL service in AppCat is fully matured.

You can now restore your PostgreSQL instances yourself and test the process using the provided restore guide.

👉 Learn more about the restore guide.

Now is also the perfect time to start planning your migration from StackGres to CloudNativePG.

👉 Get in touch with us to plan your migration.

CloudNativePG as the Default for Nextcloud

As part of this release, CloudNativePG PostgreSQL becomes the default database for new Nextcloud deployments.

This change only applies to newly provisioned instances. Existing setups remain unchanged.

When creating a new Nextcloud instance, it is still possible to connect to an already existing PostgreSQL database. For teams considering a migration, support is available when needed.

👉 Talk to us about your migration.

Cleaning Up Object Storage with Garage Operator

The release also addresses a practical issue in object storage handling.

Previously, buckets marked for deletion were not removed if they still contained data. As a result, these buckets continued consuming disk space.

With the introduction of garage cleanup, all objects within a bucket are deleted automatically once the bucket enters the deleting state. This allows the bucket to be removed properly and avoids leftover storage usage.

Summary

With self service restore now available, PostgreSQL with CloudNativePG in AppCat reaches full maturity. At the same time, it becomes the default choice for new Nextcloud deployments, while improvements like automatic bucket cleanup help address operational edge cases.

👉 Learn more about VSHN AppCat.

Operating stateful services on Kubernetes has always been one of the more complex challenges – especially when it comes to databases like PostgreSQL.

With the latest VSHN AppCat release, we’re introducing a major milestone for our PostgreSQL offering based on CloudNativePG, along with improvements that give users more control over how their services are managed and operated.

This release focuses on three key areas: database lifecycle management, user control and cost optimization.

What is VSHN AppCat?

VSHN AppCat is the VSHN Application Catalog – a curated collection of production-ready applications that can be deployed and operated on Kubernetes with minimal effort.

Instead of manually installing and maintaining complex software stacks, AppCat allows teams to run services such as databases, identity providers or collaboration platforms as fully managed applications.

AppCat includes:

• Automated operations and lifecycle management
• Built-in monitoring, backup and maintenance
• Consistent deployments across Kubernetes environments

This enables teams to focus on their applications, while VSHN handles the operational complexity behind the scenes.

👉 Learn more about VSHN AppCat

Major PostgreSQL Version Upgrades with CloudNativePG

This release introduces a significant new capability for PostgreSQL in AppCat: major version upgrades using CloudNativePG.

For the first time, users can upgrade the major version of their PostgreSQL instances within the AppCat environment.

Major version upgrades are one of the more sensitive operations in database lifecycle management. Making this available as part of a managed service is an important step in enabling long-term, sustainable operations of PostgreSQL workloads on Kubernetes.

👉 Learn more about PostgreSQL upgrades

PostgreSQL User Management for CloudNativePG

We’ve also introduced user management capabilities for PostgreSQL in our CloudNativePG-based offering.

While PostgreSQL itself has always supported user management, this functionality is now available and integrated within the AppCat-managed CloudNativePG setup.

This gives users more direct control over database access and roles within their managed PostgreSQL instances.

👉 Learn more about PostgreSQL user management

Bring Your Own Bucket for Backups

Another important addition in this release is the “Bring Your Own Bucket” feature.

Users can now specify their own unmanaged object storage bucket for backups instead of relying on automatically provisioned storage.

If a bucket is provided, AppCat will use the supplied credentials and skip internal bucket provisioning entirely.

This can be particularly useful for organizations that:

• Already operate their own storage infrastructure
• Want to consolidate storage across services
• Are looking for ways to optimize backup-related costs

👉 Learn more about backup configuration

Continuous Platform Evolution

Operating databases and stateful services on Kubernetes is continuously evolving – and this release represents an important step forward.

With major version upgrades, integrated user management, and more control over backup infrastructure, AppCat continues to expand the capabilities of managed services on Kubernetes.

As always, the goal remains the same: making complex operations simpler, safer and more predictable for teams running production workloads.

👉 Learn more about VSHN AppCat

👉 VSHN AppCat Changelog

Running applications on Kubernetes is not just about deploying them – it’s about operating them reliably over time. That includes managing databases, handling authentication, and ensuring that services evolve safely without breaking changes.

With the latest VSHN AppCat release, we’re introducing improvements that focus on database flexibility, better integration capabilities and safer operations across the platform.

As always, many of these enhancements happen behind the scenes – but they directly improve how teams work with and operate their services.

What is VSHN AppCat?

VSHN AppCat is the VSHN Application Catalog – a curated collection of production-ready applications that can be deployed and operated on Kubernetes with minimal effort.

Instead of manually installing and maintaining complex software stacks, AppCat enables teams to run services like databases, identity providers or collaboration platforms as fully managed applications.

This includes:

• Automated operations and lifecycle management
• Built-in monitoring, backup and maintenance
• Consistent deployments across Kubernetes environments

This allows teams to focus on their applications, while VSHN takes care of operating the underlying services.

👉 Learn more about VSHN AppCat:
Application Catalog – VSHN AG

More Flexibility with PostgreSQL Extensions

One of the key improvements in this release focuses on PostgreSQL powered by CloudNativePG.

We’ve introduced additional configuration options for PostgreSQL extensions, allowing users to enable and configure extension-specific libraries where required. This provides greater flexibility for teams that rely on advanced PostgreSQL features.

In addition, support for VACUUM operations has been improved and is now more clearly integrated into scheduled maintenance processes. Regular VACUUM operations are essential for maintaining database performance and storage efficiency over time.

Together, these improvements give users more control over how their PostgreSQL instances behave – without sacrificing the benefits of a managed service.

Improved Integration with Forgejo

This release also enhances integration capabilities for developer platforms.

We’ve added support for configuring OAuth2 clients in Forgejo, making it easier to integrate Forgejo-based services with external identity providers and authentication systems.

This is particularly useful for teams that want to connect their development workflows with centralized identity management solutions.

Safer Operations for Nextcloud

Operating applications reliably also means preventing unsafe configurations.

With this release, we’ve introduced a safeguard for Nextcloud: major version downgrades are now explicitly blocked.

Since Nextcloud itself does not support downgrades between major versions, allowing them at the platform level could lead to broken instances or data inconsistencies. By enforcing this constraint, AppCat helps ensure that upgrades remain safe and predictable.

For users, the guidance is simple: stay up to date and follow the supported upgrade paths when moving between major versions.

👉 Learn more about Nextcloud:
Nextcloud by VSHN – VSHN AG

Continuous Platform Improvements

Operating applications on Kubernetes is an ongoing process of refinement.

This AppCat release focuses on increasing flexibility where it matters – and enforcing safety where it’s critical. From more configurable PostgreSQL extensions to safer upgrade paths and improved integrations, these changes help teams operate their services with greater confidence.

As always, VSHN AppCat continues to evolve to make running production workloads on Kubernetes simpler, more reliable and more consistent.

👉 Learn more about VSHN AppCat:
Application Catalog – VSHN AG

👉 VSHN AppCat Changelog:
Changelog 2026-03-24

Operating modern applications on Kubernetes is powerful – but it also comes with complexity. Databases, identity services, collaboration platforms and developer tools all require careful lifecycle management, upgrades, monitoring and security configuration.

That’s exactly where VSHN AppCat comes in.

With the latest release of AppCat, we’re introducing several improvements that further strengthen the reliability and operational consistency of the applications running on the platform.

While many of the changes happen behind the scenes, they directly improve the day-to-day experience of teams running production workloads on Kubernetes.

What is VSHN AppCat?

VSHN AppCat is the VSHN Application Catalog – a curated collection of production-ready applications that can be deployed and operated on Kubernetes with minimal effort.

Instead of installing and maintaining complex software stacks manually, AppCat allows teams to deploy widely used services such as databases, identity providers, collaboration platforms or developer tools as fully managed applications.

AppCat provides:

• Production-ready Kubernetes deployments
• Automated operations and lifecycle management
• Built-in monitoring, backup and maintenance processes
• Consistent deployments across Kubernetes environments

This means platform teams and developers can focus on building and running their applications while VSHN takes care of the operational complexity behind the scenes.

👉 Learn more about VSHN Application Catalog

Smarter Alerting for End Users

Reliable operations require good alerting – but alerts should be actionable, not overwhelming.

In this release we improved end-user alerting behaviour, reducing alert noise while keeping important signals visible. For example, alerts for storage capacity issues previously triggered every minute. While technically correct, this behaviour often resulted in unnecessary alert noise.

The new configuration adjusts the interval to 15 minutes, reducing alert flapping while still giving users enough time to react to potential issues.

If you haven’t configured alerting for your AppCat instances yet, we strongly recommend enabling it.

Improving PostgreSQL Reliability

Several improvements in this release focus on making PostgreSQL operations more robust.

One issue could occur when multiple databases were created simultaneously. In rare situations this could lead to race conditions during user management. By adjusting the database bootstrap process and using a more suitable template database, this issue has now been resolved.

These kinds of improvements might be invisible to users – but they are essential for making platform operations reliable at scale.

CloudNativePG for Keycloak

We also improved the PostgreSQL backend used by the Keycloak identity service in AppCat.

New Keycloak instances will now use CloudNativePG, a Kubernetes-native PostgreSQL operator designed specifically for cloud-native environments.

Existing Keycloak installations remain unchanged and continue to operate normally. The new backend will automatically be used when new Keycloak instances are created.

👉 Learn more about Keycloak

Updates to Developer Collaboration Platforms

This release also includes updates to Forgejo and Codey, ensuring that these services run on supported upstream versions.

What is Codey?

Codey is VSHN’s European code collaboration platform, built on the open-source Forgejo project.

Instead of operating their own Git platform, teams can run fully managed Forgejo instances operated by VSHN, including monitoring, backups and lifecycle management.

Codey provides features such as:

• Git repository hosting
• Pull requests and code reviews
• CI/CD compatible with GitHub Actions workflows
• Package and container registries
• Integrated project management tools

Codey runs on European cloud infrastructure, including Switzerland, helping organizations maintain control over their development data while benefiting from a fully managed service.

👉 Learn more about Codey

Improved Security for Nextcloud

The release also includes improvements to the security configuration of the Nextcloud cronjob.

Previously the job could run with incorrect user permissions in some Kubernetes environments. The new configuration ensures the job runs with the correct security context, improving compatibility across Kubernetes platforms such as vanilla Kubernetes and OpenShift.

👉 Learn more about Nextcloud

Consistent Maintenance Scheduling

For services that include PostgreSQL dependencies – such as Keycloak and Nextcloud – we fixed edge cases where maintenance windows could slightly deviate from the configured schedule.

Maintenance operations are now handled more consistently across dependent services.

Continuous Platform Improvements

Operating applications reliably on Kubernetes requires constant refinement of automation, observability and operational processes.

This AppCat release focuses on exactly that: improving reliability, consistency and operational experience across the platform.

While many improvements happen behind the scenes, they ultimately help teams run critical services more safely and with less operational overhead.

If you’re looking for a simpler way to run production-ready services on Kubernetes, VSHN AppCat provides a proven foundation.

👉 VSHN AppCat Changelog