Rollbacks

Rollbacks let you quickly revert to a previous working version if something goes wrong.

How Rollbacks Work

Each successful build creates a tagged image in the registry:

registry:5000/myapp:abc123   # Build 1
registry:5000/myapp:def456   # Build 2
registry:5000/myapp:ghi789   # Build 3 (current)

Rolling back switches to an older image without rebuilding.

Performing a Rollback

1. Go to the deployment detail
2. Click Builds to see build history
3. Find the build you want to restore
4. Click Rollback to this build
5. Confirm the rollback

Rollback Process

When you rollback:

1. Stop current container
2. Start new container from old image
3. Health check verifies it’s working
4. Complete — old version is live

This typically takes 10-30 seconds.

Zero-Downtime Rollbacks

Rollbacks aim to minimize downtime:

1. Old container keeps running initially
2. New container starts from old image
3. Traffic switches when new container is healthy
4. Old container stops

Build History

The builds list shows:

Column	Description
Status	Success, failed, or rolled back
Commit	Git commit SHA (for git deploys)
Date	When the build ran
Duration	How long the build took

Rollback Limits

You can rollback to any build where:

• The image still exists in the registry
• The build was successful

Note

Images are kept indefinitely by default. Configure registry cleanup if storage is a concern.

Emergency Rollbacks

If your deployment is broken:

1. Don’t panic
2. Go directly to builds list
3. Find last known working build
4. Click rollback immediately

The previous version will be restored quickly.

After Rolling Back

After a rollback:

1. Investigate what went wrong
2. Fix the issue in your code
3. Deploy again
4. Verify the fix works

Preventing Bad Deploys

To reduce the need for rollbacks:

1. Test locally before deploying
2. Use staging environment first
3. Review changes before deploying to production
4. Monitor after each deploy

Rollback vs Redeploy

Action	What Happens
Rollback	Uses existing image, no build
Redeploy	Builds new image from current source

Use rollback for:

• Emergency reverts
• Known working versions
• Quick recovery

Use redeploy for:

• Applying new changes
• Rebuilding after config changes
• Fresh builds

Rollback Troubleshooting

”Image Not Found”

The image may have been cleaned from the registry.

Solution: Redeploy from source instead.

”Rollback Failed”

Check the container logs for startup errors.

Solution: The old version may have issues. Try a different build.

”Same Problems After Rollback”

The issue might be:

• In the database (migrations)
• In environment variables
• In external services

Solution: Check non-code dependencies.