Docs / Operations

Updates & Backups

Update the GHCR image and back up the host-side data/ and storage/ directories.

Update the container

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

restart keeps the existing container on its old image. Pull the new image, then recreate the container.

What to back up

data/     -> account/session/settings/chat DB/restore state
storage/  -> cache/icons/saved media

data/ contains sessions, settings, chat databases, backups, and other state, so it is required to restore the host. Include storage/ as well if saved media must be preserved.

Different from VylineBackup

VylineBackup in Settings is an application-level snapshot feature. It serves a different purpose from host-level data//storage/ backups used to recover the Docker host itself.

Backup with consistency first

docker compose stop
sudo tar -C . -czf vyline-backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz data storage
docker compose start

Stopping the container before copying prevents chat-database writes from racing the host-side copy. Backup archives can contain credentials, so restrict permissions on the destination as well.

Checks after restore

Confirm the bind-mount destinations are the same as before the restore.
Check container logs for permission errors.
Verify login state and settings.
Verify chat history and saved media.
Recreate the container and confirm the state still remains.