Updating

SendDock checks for new releases on its own and tells you when one is available. The dashboard displays the current version next to the logout button. When a newer version is published on GitHub, the version label turns into a yellow "Update available" badge — click it to see what changed and copy the update command.

Behind the scenes the dashboard polls GET /api/v1/version once on load. The backend caches the GitHub releases response in Redis for 1 hour, so check traffic stays well inside GitHub's anonymous rate limit even with hundreds of self-hosters.

The update path depends on which install you started from.

Install path	Update command
Prebuilt image (Option 1)	docker compose pull && docker compose up -d
Dokploy (Option 2)	One-click "Redeploy" in the Dokploy UI
Build from source (Option 3)	git pull && ./setup.sh

In every case your data is preserved. Postgres lives in a named Docker volume that is not touched by image updates. Migrations are run by goose, which deduplicates against the goose_db_version table and only applies what hasn't been applied before.

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Updating a prebuilt image install

Use this when you installed via the canonical ghcr.io/arkhe-systems/senddock image (Option 1 in Installation).

cd senddock
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f senddock

What happens:

1. docker compose pull fetches the latest ghcr.io/arkhe-systems/senddock image from GitHub Container Registry. Postgres and Redis images update too unless you've pinned them.
2. docker compose up -d recreates the senddock container with the new image. Postgres and Redis containers stay running unless their image changed.
3. The new container's entrypoint runs goose -dir /app/migrations postgres "$DATABASE_URL" up, which applies any new migrations. Existing rows in goose_db_version are skipped.
4. The healthcheck in docker-compose.yml flips to "healthy" once /health returns 200 — usually within 10 seconds.

What is preserved:

• pgdata volume (subscribers, templates, projects, logs, campaigns, API keys, audit log)
• redisdata volume (caches; not critical, will rebuild)
• .env (secrets, license key, configuration)

Pin the version in docker-compose.yml to control update timing:

services:
  senddock:
    image: ghcr.io/arkhe-systems/senddock:0.5.2

When you decide to upgrade, edit the tag, then docker compose pull && docker compose up -d.

License key on update

The license validator caches its last-good response for 1 hour. After an update the new container runs through validation again on first startup. If your subscription is active, Pro features unlock immediately. If the license has expired or been revoked, Pro routes start returning 402 Payment Required on the next validation tick — Core features remain fully available.

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Updating a Dokploy install

Open the SendDock app in Dokploy → click "Redeploy". Dokploy runs docker compose pull && docker compose up -d against the same volumes.

If you switch to a pinned version, edit the env var in Dokploy and Redeploy. The volume is not touched.

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Updating a source build

Use this when you installed via git clone + ./setup.sh.

cd senddock
git pull origin main
./setup.sh        # Linux / macOS
.\setup.ps1       # Windows

What happens:

1. Detects the existing .env and reuses it.
2. docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml build --pull rebuilds the image with the new code and pulls fresh base images.
3. docker compose up -d restarts the services.
4. The container's entrypoint runs any new migrations on the existing database.
5. A health check polls GET /health for up to 60 seconds. The script only reports success once SendDock actually responds.

Same data preservation guarantees as the image flow.

If the build fails or the app never becomes healthy, the script exits non-zero and points at docker compose logs senddock.

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Manual update without scripts or Compose

For CI/CD pipelines, restricted environments, or step-by-step debugging:

docker pull ghcr.io/arkhe-systems/senddock:latest
docker stop senddock-old
docker rm senddock-old
docker run -d \
    --name senddock \
    --env-file /etc/senddock/.env \
    --network senddock-net \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    ghcr.io/arkhe-systems/senddock:latest

Whatever orchestrator you use (Kubernetes, Nomad, plain systemd-with-podman), the steps boil down to:

1. Pull the new image.
2. Stop the old container.
3. Start a new container against the same DATABASE_URL and JWT_SECRET.
4. The entrypoint runs goose up. New migrations apply, old ones are skipped.

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Backing up before an update

While the update path itself is safe, taking a snapshot before any update is good hygiene.

docker compose exec -T postgres pg_dump -U senddock senddock \
    > senddock-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

To restore later into a fresh install:

cat senddock-backup-YYYYMMDD.sql | \
    docker compose exec -T postgres psql -U senddock senddock

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Rolling back

Image install

Edit docker-compose.yml to point at the previous tag, then:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Data is preserved as long as the older version's schema is compatible with what your current database has. Major releases may include irreversible migrations — if rolling back across one, restore from the backup you took before the upgrade.

Source build

git checkout v0.x.x
./setup.sh

The script picks up the older code and rebuilds.

Manual migration rollback

If a single migration is the problem:

docker compose exec senddock goose -dir /app/migrations postgres "$DATABASE_URL" down

Run it once per migration you want to undo. Verify the application still starts before doing more.

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Wiping and reinstalling

Use this only when:

• Your install is broken in a way that an update can't fix (corrupted volume, password mismatch you can't recover from).
• You're testing on a throwaway instance.
• You took a backup and want a fresh start.

Image install

docker compose down -v
docker compose up -d

down -v removes the named volumes — all data is gone.

Source build

./setup.sh --reset        # Linux / macOS
.\setup.ps1 -Reset        # Windows

What gets deleted in either flow:

• Both Docker volumes (Postgres + Redis) — all your data.
• For source builds, .env is regenerated with new secrets.

After reset, the next start behaves like a fresh install: setup screen appears, create the admin account again.

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Checking the current version

The latest release and changelog live on GitHub releases. The image tag matching that release is published to GHCR within a few minutes of the GitHub release going live.