# What to Expect When Rebuilding Discourse
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Created:** [November 5, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679 "2025-11-05T12:13:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@tom1984](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tom1984)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/1 "2025-11-05T12:13:00Z")
> [@Install plugins on a self-hosted site](https://meta.discourse.org/t/install-plugins-on-a-self-hosted-site/19157/1):
>
> `./launcher rebuild app`
Newbie to discourse and docker here. If I already have an established site with configuration and content present, will this wipe it?
I assume there will be an interuption to the site being served, that I can live with…but will content/configuration/customisation be lost?
Any tips appreciated! thanks
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### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/2 "2025-11-05T13:20:29Z")
> [@tom1984](#):
>
> If I already have an established site with configuration and content present, will this wipe it?
No, this simply updates the software.
> [@tom1984](#):
>
> I assume there will be an interuption to the site being served, that I can live with…but will content/configuration/customisation be lost?
Yes, there is an interruption of a few minutes, but no content and configs will be lost.
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### Author:  [@tom1984](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tom1984)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 2:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/3 "2025-11-05T14:10:09Z")
thank you very much for the reply, much appreciated
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### Author:  [@Ed\_S](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ed_S)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/4 "2025-11-05T18:30:05Z")
A bit of extra detail, on an underpowered machine the interruption could be some tens of minutes. On a fast machine, maybe a few minutes.
Because upgrades can go wrong, you should always start by taking a backup. Preferably for safety download a local copy too.
If the upgrade does go wrong, be ready to ask for help on this forum, with evidence from your logs: the last few hundred lines of output should be enough. Sometimes the first few lines of output.
In case of failure to upgrade, it might be that you can resurrect the previous state of your forum software:
> [@Rollback upgrades](https://meta.discourse.org/t/rollback-upgrades/116074/10):
>
> > [@Rollback upgrades](https://meta.discourse.org/t/rollback-upgrades/116074/9):
> >
> > What I’m asking is how I run the old docker container before the rebuild the failed. It is already created with an old version of Discourse so it should be possible to run it.
>
> ```plaintext
> ./launcher start app
>
> ```
>
> Should do it, unless the database has migrated, in which case you can have problems.
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### Author:  [@tom1984](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tom1984)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/5 "2025-11-05T18:51:34Z")
Thank you, that brings me to another question I had!
Is backing up through the admin site UI adequate (Along with a new docker image of the same version), or is there a behind the scenes method?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/6 "2025-11-05T18:54:40Z")
It’s enough unless you have the only copy on the server and that server goes away for some reason.
It’s enough if whatever holds those backups is safe.
If you have that backup and your yml file(s), you’ve got what you need to set up a new server.
If you have backups on S3/Spaces or similar then just the yml file is all you need to set up a new server and restore the latest backup.
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### Author:  [@tom1984](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tom1984)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/7 "2025-11-05T19:01:23Z")
Yes sorry, I meant I would download those backups off the server too.
That’s great, thanks!
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/8 "2025-11-05T20:40:42Z")
If something answered your question, then please click the ☑ on that topic to mark this solved!
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### Author:  [@Ed\_S](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Ed_S)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/9 "2025-11-05T22:44:16Z")
> [@pfaffman](#):
>
> and your yml file
this is quite important!
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### Author:  [@tom1984](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tom1984)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/10 "2025-11-05T22:52:45Z")
Which file is this… And where is it 😊?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/11 "2025-11-05T23:01:30Z")
/var/discourse/containers/\*
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### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-to-expect-when-rebuilding-discourse/387679/12 "2025-12-05T23:02:04Z")
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