diff --git a/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup b/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup
index e667e6448..f7ca96212 100755
--- a/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup
+++ b/salt/manager/tools/sbin/soup
@@ -865,6 +865,28 @@ kibana_backport_streams_index_template() {
 
 }
 
+# Runs kafka-features.sh upgrade --release-version $1
+#   Upgrades Kafka KRaft cluster metadata
+update_kafka_metadata() {
+    metadata_version="$1"
+    global_pillar="/opt/so/saltstack/local/pillar/global/soc_global.sls"
+    if PIPELINE=$(so-yaml.py get -r "$global_pillar" global.pipeline 2> /dev/null) && [[ "$PIPELINE" == "KAFKA" ]]; then
+        kafka_nodes_raw=$(salt-call pillar.get kafka:nodes --out=json)
+        if kafka_nodes=$(jq -er '.local | select(type == "object" and length > 0)' <<< "$kafka_nodes_raw"); then
+            bootstrap_servers=$(jq -r '[to_entries[] | select(.value.role | contains("broker")) | "\(.value.ip):9092"] | join(",")' <<< "$kafka_nodes")
+            echo "Upgrading Kafka KRaft cluster version"
+            so-kafka-cli kafka-features.sh --bootstrap-server "$bootstrap_servers" --command-config /opt/kafka/config/kraft/client.properties upgrade --release-version "$metadata_version" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+            return 0
+        else
+            FINAL_MESSAGE_QUEUE+=("WARNING: Unable to automatically perform Kafka KRaft cluster metadata update. This step can be performed manually using the following command (replacing \$BROKER_IP with the ip of atleast 1 available Kafka broker):")
+            FINAL_MESSAGE_QUEUE+=("    - so-kafka-cli kafka-features.sh --bootstrap-server \$BROKER_IP:9092 --command-config /opt/kafka/config/kraft/client.properties upgrade --release-version $metadata_version")
+        fi
+    else
+        echo "Nothing to do!"
+    fi
+}
+
 up_to_3.2.0() {
   ensure_salt_local_pillar
 
@@ -884,6 +906,8 @@ post_to_3.2.0() {
 
   kibana_backport_streams_index_template
 
+  update_kafka_metadata "4.3"
+
   POSTVERSION=3.2.0
 }
 
diff --git a/salt/suricata/tools/sbin/so-suricata-reload-rules b/salt/suricata/tools/sbin/so-suricata-reload-rules
index e21e28e2f..b966e4bc0 100644
--- a/salt/suricata/tools/sbin/so-suricata-reload-rules
+++ b/salt/suricata/tools/sbin/so-suricata-reload-rules
@@ -7,5 +7,50 @@
 
 . /usr/sbin/so-common
 
-retry 60 3 'docker exec so-suricata /opt/suricata/bin/suricatasc -c reload-rules /var/run/suricata/suricata-command.socket' '{"message":"done","return":"OK"}' || fail "The Suricata container was not ready in time."
-retry 60 3 'docker exec so-suricata /opt/suricata/bin/suricatasc -c ruleset-reload-nonblocking /var/run/suricata/suricata-command.socket' '{"message":"done","return":"OK"}' || fail "The Suricata container was not ready in time."
+RULES_FILE="/opt/so/rules/suricata/all-rulesets.rules"
+SOCKET="/var/run/suricata/suricata-command.socket"
+SURICATASC="docker exec so-suricata /opt/suricata/bin/suricatasc"
+
+# Epoch mtime of the ruleset we need Suricata to have loaded. Captured once so a
+# file update mid-reload does not move the goalpost.
+target_mtime=$(stat -c %Y "$RULES_FILE") || fail "Could not stat the Suricata rules file: $RULES_FILE"
+
+# Format an epoch as a human-readable local timestamp for log messages.
+fmt_time() { date -d "@$1" '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z' 2>/dev/null; }
+
+# Epoch of Suricata's last *completed* ruleset reload; non-zero return on failure.
+suricata_reload_epoch() {
+  local out ts
+  out=$($SURICATASC -c ruleset-reload-time "$SOCKET" 2>/dev/null)
+  ts=$(echo "$out" | jq -r '.message[0].last_reload // empty' 2>/dev/null)
+  [ -n "$ts" ] || return 1
+  date -d "$ts" +%s 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+# Trigger a fresh reload and confirm Suricata is running a ruleset at least as new
+# as the rules file. Returns 0 only when both hold, so retry keeps going until an
+# in-progress reload clears and our own reload completes.
+reload_and_verify() {
+  local out reload_epoch
+  out=$($SURICATASC -c reload-rules "$SOCKET")
+  echo "reload-rules: $out"
+
+  if [[ "$out" =~ "Reload already in progress" ]]; then
+    echo "A reload is already in progress; waiting for it to clear so a fresh reload can load the current ruleset."
+    return 1
+  fi
+  if [[ ! "$out" =~ '{"message":"done","return":"OK"}' ]]; then
+    echo "Suricata not ready or unexpected reload output; will retry."
+    return 1
+  fi
+
+  reload_epoch=$(suricata_reload_epoch) || { echo "Could not read ruleset-reload-time; will retry."; return 1; }
+  if [ "$reload_epoch" -ge "$target_mtime" ]; then
+    echo "Loaded ruleset is current: last reload ($(fmt_time "$reload_epoch")) is newer than rules file ($(fmt_time "$target_mtime"))."
+    return 0
+  fi
+  echo "Loaded ruleset is stale: last reload ($(fmt_time "$reload_epoch")) is older than rules file ($(fmt_time "$target_mtime")); retrying."
+  return 1
+}
+
+retry 60 3 'reload_and_verify' || fail "Suricata did not load the current ruleset in time."