# Release Notes — 2.83

Covers the **2.83** release series. Most recent patch: **2.83.1**.

_Unless a subsection says otherwise, changes apply to both Monad SaaS and self-hosted._

## New features & improvements

**Self-hosted only**
- **Database backups to Google Cloud Storage** — the bundled PostgreSQL can now back up to a GCS bucket using GKE Workload Identity, with no stored key. (2.83.0)
  - *Access:* opt-in — in your Helm values, set `postgresql.cnpg.backup.enabled` to `true`, `postgresql.cnpg.backup.objectStore.provider` to `gcs`, and `postgresql.cnpg.backup.objectStore.destinationPath` to your bucket path.
  - Grant the bucket to the database pods' Kubernetes service account, or annotate that service account with `iam.gke.io/gcp-service-account` through `postgresql.cnpg.spec.serviceAccountTemplate`.

## New connectors

None.

## Fixes

**Self-hosted only**
- **Helm upgrades no longer fail on an empty ExternalSecret** — enabling an ExternalSecret with nothing to fetch used to be rejected by the External Secrets Operator and fail the whole upgrade; the chart now skips it. (2.83.1)

## Breaking changes

None.

## Need help?

See the [Monad docs](https://app.monad.com/docs) for setup guides and reference, or reach out to Monad Customer Support at [support@monad.com](mailto:support@monad.com) or via your dedicated Slack customer channel.

:::note
Self-hosted deployments upgrade to a `2.83.x` release with
`helm upgrade`. Review the **Breaking changes** section above before upgrading;
when it says "None," the upgrade is drop-in.
:::