final suggestions

Author: eedugon

deploy-manage/upgrade.md

@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ Upgrading your Elastic cluster or deployment involves several stages, including
 
 - [Upgrade ingest components](./upgrade/ingest-components.md): Covers supporting components such as {{beats}}, {{agent}}, {{ls}}, and APM Server.
 
+:::{note}
+If you’re still running {{stack}} version 7.17 or earlier, refer to the [Upgrade from 7.17 guide](/deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/upgrade-717.md) for detailed guidance on planning and executing the upgrade to the latest {{version.stack}} release.
+:::
+
 Additionally, if you're using a self-managed orchestration platform such as {{ece}} or {{eck}}, refer to [Upgrade your ECE or ECK orchestrator](/deploy-manage/upgrade/orchestrator.md) to keep the orchestrator up to date.
 
 ## Availability during upgrades
@@ -97,3 +101,12 @@ If you're upgrading to the current {{version.stack}} release from an earlier 8.x
 For flexible upgrade scheduling, 8.19 {{agent}}, {{beats}}, and {{ls}} are compatible with all 9.x versions of {{es}}.
 
 By default, 8.x {{es}} clients are compatible with 9.x and use [REST API compatibility](elasticsearch://reference/elasticsearch/rest-apis/compatibility.md) to maintain compatibility with the 9.x cluster.
+
+### Upgrade paths from 7.17 [upgrade-paths-7.x]
+
+Upgrading from {{stack}} version 7.17 to the latest {{version.stack}} release involves two major upgrades:
+
+- From 7.17 to 8.19
+- From 8.19 to {{version.stack}}
+
+For detailed guidance on planning and executing these upgrades, refer to the [Upgrade from 7.17 guide](/deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/upgrade-717.md).

deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster.md

@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ This section contains the upgrade instructions for {{es}} clusters and {{kib}} i
 
 Before proceeding with the upgrade, review the [Plan your upgrade](/deploy-manage/upgrade/plan-upgrade.md) guidance to understand compatibility and timing considerations, and follow the steps in [Prepare to upgrade](/deploy-manage/upgrade/prepare-to-upgrade.md) to get your environment ready for the upgrade.
 
+If you’re still running {{stack}} version 7.17 or earlier, refer to the [Upgrade from 7.17 guide](/deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/upgrade-717.md) for detailed guidance on planning and executing the upgrade to the latest {{version.stack}} release.
+
 ## Out-of-order releases [out-of-order-releases]
 
 Elastic maintains several minor versions of {{es}} at the same time. This means releases do not always happen in order of their version numbers. You can only upgrade to {{version.stack}} if the version you are currently running meets both of these conditions:

deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/upgrade-717.md

@@ -222,15 +222,15 @@ During the upgrade process, all components of your deployment are upgraded in th
 
 
 ::::{applies-item} eck:
-In ECK, upgrades are performed declaratively by updating the `spec.version` field in the resource manifest. Once the new version is applied, the operator automatically orchestrates the rolling upgrade, ensuring that each component is upgraded safely and in the correct order.
+In ECK, upgrades are performed declaratively by updating the `spec.version` field in your resource manifests, or by setting the equivalent version values when deploying clusters through Helm charts. Once the new version is applied, the operator automatically orchestrates the rolling upgrade, ensuring that each component is upgraded safely and in the correct order.
 
 To upgrade your cluster to 8.19, follow the steps in [Upgrade on ECK](/deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/upgrade-on-eck.md), and start upgrading the {{es}} and {{kib}} resources that represent the cluster.
 
 :::{note}
 For more information on how ECK manages upgrades and how to tune its behavior, refer to [Nodes orchestration](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s/nodes-orchestration.md).
 :::
 
-After upgrading {{es}} and {{kib}}, upgrade any [other Elastic applications](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s/orchestrate-other-elastic-applications.md) connected to the cluster, such as {{fleet-server}} or Elastic APM using the same variable.
+After upgrading {{es}} and {{kib}}, upgrade any [other Elastic applications](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s/orchestrate-other-elastic-applications.md) connected to the cluster, such as {{fleet-server}} or Elastic APM, using the same version value.
 ::::
 
 ::::{applies-item} self:
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ This step covers upgrading your deployment from 8.19.x to {{version.stack}}, ass
 
 It's highly recommended to start this upgrade from the latest 8.19.x patch release to ensure that you’re using the most recent version of the Upgrade Assistant.
 
-:::::{important} note for Enterprise Search users
+:::::{admonition} Important note for Enterprise Search users
 In {{stack}} 9.0.0 and later, Enterprise Search is no longer available.
 * You must remove any Enterprise Search nodes from your deployment before proceeding with the upgrade.
 * If you are currently using App Search, Workplace Search, or the Elastic Web Crawler, these features will cease to function if you remove Enterpise Search from your deployment. Therefore, it is critical to first  [migrate your Enterprise Search use cases](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/enterprise-search/8.19/upgrading-to-9-x.html) before decommissioning your Enterprise Search instances.
@@ -440,16 +440,16 @@ During the upgrade process all of your deployment components will be upgraded in
 ::::
 
 
-::::{applies-item} { eck: }
-In ECK, upgrades are performed declaratively by updating the `spec.version` field in the resource manifest. Once the new version is applied, the operator automatically orchestrates the rolling upgrade, ensuring that each component is upgraded safely and in the correct order.
+::::{applies-item} eck:
+In ECK, upgrades are performed declaratively by updating the `spec.version` field in your resource manifests, or by setting the equivalent version values when deploying clusters through Helm charts. Once the new version is applied, the operator automatically orchestrates the rolling upgrade, ensuring that each component is upgraded safely and in the correct order.
 
 To upgrade your cluster to {{version.stack}}, follow the steps in [Upgrade on ECK](/deploy-manage/upgrade/deployment-or-cluster/upgrade-on-eck.md), and start upgrading the {{es}} and {{kib}} resources that represent the cluster.
 
 :::{note}
 For more information on how ECK manages upgrades and how to tune its behavior, refer to [Nodes orchestration](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s/nodes-orchestration.md).
 :::
 
-After upgrading {{es}} and {{kib}}, upgrade any [other Elastic applications](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s/orchestrate-other-elastic-applications.md) connected to the cluster, such as {{fleet-server}} or Elastic APM.
+After upgrading {{es}} and {{kib}}, upgrade any [other Elastic applications](/deploy-manage/deploy/cloud-on-k8s/orchestrate-other-elastic-applications.md) connected to the cluster, such as {{fleet-server}} or Elastic APM, using the same version value.
 ::::
 
 ::::{applies-item} self: