Upgrading

Release channels

Tankarr publishes stable releases, temporary branch images for testing pull requests, and immutable builds. There is no permanent develop channel.

Image tag	Built from	Recommended for
latest	the newest stable release	Most installations
X.Y.Z (for example 1.2.3)	that exact release	Pinning a version; updates only when you change the tag
X.Y	the newest patch of that minor version	Receiving fixes without new features
sha-<commit>	one exact build	Rolling back, or reproducing a problem
branch-<name>	a branch with an open pull request	Trying a change before it is merged; removed when the branch is deleted

All tags are multi-architecture (linux/amd64, linux/arm64). Release notes for every stable version are on the releases page; a branch-<name> image corresponds to an open pull request and disappears with its branch.

Stable versions follow semantic versioning: a patch release (1.2.3 → 1.2.4) only fixes problems, a minor release adds features without breaking existing configurations, and a major release announces breaking changes in its notes. Before 1.0, minor releases may still contain breaking changes, always listed in the notes.

Updating

Upgrading from v0.9.0 to v0.10.0

Create a configuration/database backup before upgrading. This release adds persisted source preferences, manual catalogue data, import assignments and verification metadata. Restore the pre-upgrade backup if you roll back to v0.9.0.

The retired TANKARR_SPECIAL_CHAPTERS_OUTSIDE_BOOKS setting can be removed from existing configuration. Optional extras do not contribute to automatic acquisition or main-story completion; official season-opening episodes still count as main chapters.

OpenID Connect is optional and disabled by default. Enabling it requires an HTTPS issuer and callback, client credentials and an explicit subject or group allowlist. Local login remains available. See OpenID Connect for configuration.

Update the image

docker compose pull tankarr
docker compose up -d tankarr

Tankarr can be restarted at any time: interrupted chapter jobs are queued again and a torrent or Usenet import resumes with the saved file selection and manual volume/chapter assignments. It is still kinder to update while Activity shows no import in progress.

After an update the web interface is available within seconds. The container reports healthy (/api/ready) once the library, the download queue and the deletion recovery have finished their safe startup, which can take several minutes on a large library.

Automatic updates

Tools like Watchtower or Diun work with Tankarr. If you use one, follow a fixed channel (latest, or X.Y for fixes only) rather than a branch image, and keep automatic backups enabled.

Backups

Tankarr writes an application backup bundle automatically, keeps the last seven (Settings → Data, TANKARR_BACKUP_RETENTION_COUNT) and can create one on demand from System. A bundle is a ZIP with a consistent SQLite snapshot, the effective configuration and the library identity, each member verified by size and SHA-256. Bundles are stored in /config/backups unless TANKARR_BACKUP_DIRECTORY points elsewhere.

A bundle contains your integration secrets unencrypted: keep it on trusted storage. It does not contain your library files, the managed Suwayomi runtime or its extensions; back up the library folder with your usual tools.

Verify and restore a bundle offline into a new, not yet existing directory:

docker run --rm -v /srv/backups:/backups -v /srv/restore:/restore \
  ghcr.io/renzodef/tankarr:latest \
  python -m tankarr.backups --verify /backups/tankarr-example.zip
docker run --rm -v /srv/backups:/backups -v /srv/restore:/restore \
  ghcr.io/renzodef/tankarr:latest \
  python -m tankarr.backups --restore /backups/tankarr-example.zip --destination /restore/config

Then point the /config mount at the restored directory. A restored installation starts in safe mode: no worker, monitor, recovery or write operation runs. Check mounts, jobs and paths on the System page, then restart with TANKARR_RESTORED_SAFE_MODE=false. See Operations and safety for the details.

Rolling back

The database schema only moves forward: a newer version may upgrade it on its first start, and an older image cannot read an upgraded database. To roll back:

1. Stop the container.
2. If the release notes of the version you are leaving mention a database change, restore the backup taken before the upgrade (see above).
3. Start the previous image by its version or sha- tag, for example ghcr.io/renzodef/tankarr:1.2.3.

Moving from a self-built image

If you built Tankarr yourself before images were published, replace build: . with image: ghcr.io/renzodef/tankarr:latest in your Compose file and run docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. Your /config and /library folders are used as they are.