Upgrading

Before upgrading

Always back up your data before upgrading:

``bash cd /srv/lygotype cp -r data data.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d)`

The data/ directory contains your SQLite database with all forms and responses.

`Standard upgrade`

`bash cd /srv/lygotype git pull docker compose up -d --build`

This pulls the latest code, rebuilds the Docker image, and restarts the container. The process takes 1–3 minutes. The form is briefly unavailable during the container restart.

`Checking for breaking changes`

Before upgrading, check the [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/mangopaws/lygotype/releases) for release notes. Breaking changes are called out explicitly.

`Database migrations`

Migrations run automatically on startup — no manual steps required. If a migration fails, the server will log the error and exit. Restore from backup and open a GitHub issue with the error details.

`Zero-downtime deploys`

For forms that receive continuous traffic, consider using Docker's --no-deps flag to restart only the app container while keeping the network running:

`bash git pull && docker compose up -d --build --no-deps lygotype`

`Rolling back`

If an upgrade causes issues:

`bash

`Restore the database backup`


cp -r data.backup.YYYYMMDD data
Roll back the code
git log --oneline -5       # find the previous commit hash
git checkout 
Rebuild and restart
docker compose up -d --build

Staying up to date

Watch the GitHub repository for new releases:

Click Watch → Custom → Releases on [github.com/mangopaws/lygotype](https://github.com/mangopaws/lygotype)
You'll get a notification email for each new release