Upgrading and rolling back releases in Kubernetes - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Upgrading and rolling back releases

Start: Current Release

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Upgrade Command

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New Release Deployed

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Check Release Status

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Keep New

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End

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End

This flow shows how a release is upgraded, checked, and if it fails, rolled back to the previous version.

Execution Sample

Kubernetes

helm upgrade myapp ./mychart
helm status myapp
helm rollback myapp 1

Upgrade a Helm release, check its status, and rollback to revision 1 if needed.

Process Table

Step	Command	Action	Result	Next Step
1	helm upgrade myapp ./mychart	Deploy new release version	New release deployed as revision 2	Check release status
2	helm status myapp	Check if new release is healthy	Release status: FAILED	Rollback release
3	helm rollback myapp 1	Restore previous release version	Rolled back to revision 1	End
4	-	End of process	Release stable at revision 1	-

💡 Rollback completed because new release failed health check

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 3	Final
Release Revision	1	2	2 (failed)	1 (rolled back)	1 (stable)
Release Status	DEPLOYED	DEPLOYED	FAILED	DEPLOYED	DEPLOYED

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why do we check the release status after upgrading?

Because the upgrade might fail or cause issues; checking status (step 2) tells us if rollback is needed.

What does 'helm rollback myapp 1' do exactly?

It restores the release to revision 1, the last stable version before the upgrade (step 3).

Can we skip rollback if the status is OK?

Yes, if the status check shows success, we keep the new release and do not rollback (not shown here but implied).

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the release revision after step 1?

A 3

B 1

C 2

D Failed

💡 Hint

Check the 'Release Revision' in variable_tracker after Step 1

At which step does the rollback happen?

A Step 1

B Step 3

C Step 2

D Step 4

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Command' column in execution_table for rollback command

If the release status was OK at step 2, what would happen next?

A Keep new release and end process

B Rollback to revision 1

C Upgrade again

D Delete release

💡 Hint

Refer to the concept_flow where success leads to keeping the new release

Concept Snapshot

helm upgrade <release> <chart>  # Deploy new version
helm status <release>             # Check release health
helm rollback <release> <rev>    # Restore previous version
Always check status after upgrade
Rollback if upgrade fails

Full Transcript

This visual execution shows how to upgrade a Helm release and rollback if needed. First, the upgrade command deploys a new release version (revision 2). Then, the status is checked. If the status is failed, a rollback command restores the previous stable revision (revision 1). The process ends with a stable release. Key points: always check status after upgrade and rollback if problems occur.