Update workflow

Product Support Self-hosting
,

AI-generated summary

alltiagocom, a new self-hosted Discourse user, shares confusion about the update workflow involving Docker_manager. They noticed that updates for Discourse and plugins are locked until Docker_manager is updated first — a behavior they confirm is normal but wish was better explained. They also mistakenly thought the “Processes” section showed update progress, leading to unnecessary waiting. alltiagocom asks for best practices: whether to update components, then plugins, then Discourse to avoid errors. They suggest a UX improvement: clicking the “Update” button should automatically start the update process, rather than requiring a second click on “Start Updating” — which they found counterintuitive. NateDhaliwal links to a similar feature request on Meta, and alltiagocom confirms they’ve left feedback there. The discussion falls under the “Hosting” category with the tag docker-manager, and centers on improving clarity and usability in the update workflow.

1

As a new self-hosted Discourse user, I’m still trying to figure out how things work, so please bear with me…

When it comes to updating, I noticed today that when the Docker_manager has an update, I can’t update anything else such as Discourse and the plugins. It took me a while to understand that I had to click Update in the Docker_manager row to then have the Update All button as well as the individual Update buttons for the plugins unlocked. Is this the normal behavior, and why?

(I also thought that “Processes” was the progress of the update… I could sit and wait forever :man_facepalming:t2:).

When you update, is there any “best practices”, such as updating the components, first, then the plugins, then Discourse? I’m trying to avoid as many potential errors as possible.

Thank you.

Suggestion to the team: when we click the “Update” button, instead of just sending us to the update page, it should also start updating right away. I clicked the Update button in the Docker_manager and I was just sitting there waiting for the progress bar to show, until I realized I had to click Start Updating. Seems counterintuitive to click some Update button twice.

2

I think a similar request has been made here:

3

Thank you. Just left my feedback there.