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Upgrade Tarnished

Use this guide when you want to move a running Tarnished deployment to a newer version.

Before you begin​

Before upgrading:

  1. Read the target release notes.
  2. Take a backup first.
  3. Make sure you know which deployment mode you are running.

Start with Back up and restore Tarnished.

Upgrade a Docker Compose install​

If you follow the default latest tag flow​

Pull the newest image and recreate the stack:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

If you pin a specific Tarnished image tag​

Update TARNISHED_IMAGE in your .env file or shell environment, then pull and recreate the stack.

Example:

TARNISHED_IMAGE=ghcr.io/markoonakic/tarnished:0.1.7

Then run:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Upgrade a Helm install​

If you manage Tarnished with Helm, run:

helm upgrade tarnished oci://ghcr.io/markoonakic/charts/tarnished \
  --namespace tarnished \
  --values values-production.yaml

If you pin chart versions explicitly, include --version with the target chart version.

What Tarnished does during upgrade​

For Helm installs, the chart runs database migrations through an init container before the Tarnished app starts.

For Compose-based installs, Tarnished still applies its normal startup flow after the new container comes up.

Verify after upgrade​

Check that Tarnished is healthy:

curl http://localhost:5577/health

Then confirm:

  • the app loads in the browser
  • you can sign in
  • existing applications and files are still present

If the upgrade goes badly​

Use the backup you took before upgrading and restore Tarnished to the previous known-good state.