Rollback to previous version in Kubernetes - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Rollback to previous version

Check current deployment version

↓

Identify previous stable version

↓

Run rollback command

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Kubernetes updates deployment

↓

Verify rollback success

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END

This flow shows how Kubernetes rolls back a deployment to a previous version by checking current state, applying rollback, and verifying success.

Execution Sample

Kubernetes

kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app
kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app

Rollback the deployment 'my-app' to its previous version and check the status.

Process Table

Step	Action	Command	Result	Notes
1	Check current deployment version	kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app	Deployment is at revision 3	Shows current version is 3
2	Rollback to previous version	kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app	Deployment rolled back to revision 2	Rollback command triggers update
3	Verify rollback status	kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app	Deployment successfully rolled out revision 2	Confirms rollback success
4	End	-	-	Rollback complete, deployment stable at revision 2

💡 Rollback stops after deployment is stable at previous revision

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 3	Final
deployment_revision	3	2 (rollback triggered)	2 (confirmed)	2

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does the rollback command not specify the exact revision number?

By default, 'kubectl rollout undo' rolls back to the immediately previous revision, as shown in execution_table step 2, so specifying revision is optional unless you want a specific older version.

What happens if the rollback fails?

If rollback fails, the status command in step 3 would show an error or incomplete rollout, indicating the deployment did not stabilize at the previous revision.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the deployment revision after the rollback command is run?

A 3

B 2

C 1

D 4

💡 Hint

Check the 'Result' column in step 2 of the execution_table

At which step does the deployment status confirm the rollback was successful?

A Step 3

B Step 2

C Step 1

D Step 4

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Action' and 'Result' columns in step 3 of the execution_table

If you wanted to rollback to revision 1 instead of the previous one, what would you do?

A Run 'kubectl rollout restart deployment/my-app --to-revision=1'

B Run 'kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app --to-revision=1'

C Run 'kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app --to-revision=1'

D Run 'kubectl delete deployment/my-app --to-revision=1'

💡 Hint

Refer to Kubernetes rollback syntax for specifying revision, related to step 2 command

Concept Snapshot

Rollback to previous version in Kubernetes:
- Use 'kubectl rollout undo deployment/<name>' to rollback.
- By default, rolls back to the immediately previous revision.
- Check status with 'kubectl rollout status deployment/<name>'.
- Specify revision with '--to-revision=N' if needed.
- Rollback updates deployment to stable older version.

Full Transcript

This visual execution shows how to rollback a Kubernetes deployment to a previous version. First, we check the current deployment revision using 'kubectl rollout status'. Then, we run 'kubectl rollout undo' to rollback to the previous revision. After that, we verify the rollback success again with 'kubectl rollout status'. The deployment revision changes from 3 to 2, confirming the rollback. If needed, you can specify a particular revision to rollback to using the '--to-revision' flag. This process ensures your deployment returns to a stable state if a newer version has issues.