Updating

When a new version of Plinthio is out, admins see a banner at the top of the app with a link to what's new. Updating takes one command, and your database is backed up automatically first.

Update With Docker Compose

In the folder with your docker-compose.yml:

docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

Before the new version first opens the database, Plinthio copies it to config/backups/plinthio-backup-before-<new>-from-<old>-<time>.sqlite. Database changes only go forward, so this backup is what lets you roll back. The newest five pre-upgrade backups are always kept.

Add-ons listed in COMPOSE_FILE in your .env are updated with the same command.

Update Without Compose

If you started Plinthio with docker run:

docker pull ghcr.io/oddomens/plinthio:latest
docker rm -f plinthio

Then run your original docker run command again. Everything that matters is in ./config, so nothing is lost.

Update Without Docker

In your checkout, get the new version and rebuild, then restart the server:

git pull
cd frontend && npm ci && npm run build && cd ..
cd backend && npm ci

Choosing Which Updates You Get

Set PLINTHIO_TAG in your .env:

PLINTHIO_TAG	You get
latest (default)	Every release
1	All 1.x features and fixes, never a breaking 2.0
1.4	Bug fixes for 1.4 only
1.4.2	Exactly that version. Nothing changes until you edit it

Plinthio uses semantic versioning:

• A patch (1.4.2) only fixes bugs.
• A minor release (1.4.0) adds features.
• A major release (2.0.0) may ask you to change something. Its release notes say what.

Every release's notes are on GitHub and in Version History.

Automatic Updates

Tools like Watchtower can pull new images for you. Pair them with PLINTHIO_TAG=1 so a major version never installs itself unattended.

Rolling Back

1. Set PLINTHIO_TAG in .env to the version you were on, for example PLINTHIO_TAG=1.4.1.
2. If the newer version has already started, stop Plinthio with docker compose down. Copy the matching plinthio-backup-before-… file from config/backups/ over config/plinthio.sqlite, and delete any plinthio.sqlite-wal and plinthio.sqlite-shm files next to it.
3. Run docker compose up -d.

Progress made on the newer version after the upgrade is lost when you restore the backup.

The Update Check

The banner comes from one request to GitHub's releases API every 12 hours (and when an admin presses Check now in Admin → Overview). Dismiss hides the banner until the next version. To turn the check off, and the banner with it, set UPDATE_CHECK=false and run docker compose up -d.