Upcoming OS upgrade for RDS mysql instances - Mandatory?

Question

We are currently on mysql 8.0.16 on a t2.2xlarge instance. We have automatic updated turned OFF.
According to the documentation here:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_UpgradeDBInstance.Maintenance.html#Mandatory_OS_Updates
we are not affected by this. however....
We have tried creating a new replica on the new minimum required mysql version (8.0.23). We are in a situation where replication is broken due to collation problems (even through the replica is based on a fresh snapshot of our primary).
It appears to be a problem with the scenario:
 primary (8.0.16) -> replica (>= 8.0.23)

We are now worried that we will be forcibly upgrades (OS and mysql version) next month, leaving us in a broken state.
Can anyone shed some light on this and what course of action we must take?
Many thanks.

Answer

Hello,
I would recommend reaching out to AWS Support since they might be able to manually lock the same & enforce the same software version on the replicas.
However, if the range of the dates mentioned is passed, you can either request an extension or plan for the automated updates as per the schedule.
In any case reaching out to the RDS Support team at AWS looks like the best retort at this time.

Upcoming OS upgrade for RDS mysql instances - Mandatory?

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