Skip to content
BoringStack
Star

Image updates

3 min read

WUD (What’s Up Docker) watches your running containers and applies a hybrid policy in production. When you push to the api or ui, new GHCR tags are auto-pulled and deployed. Base services like Postgres, Valkey, and Traefik only generate notifications so you can review release notes before updating.

How WUD reads container labels

Section titled “How WUD reads container labels”

WUD checks the labels in your compose files to decide which images to auto-update and which to notify-only. In docker-compose.yml, labels like this control the behavior:

services:
  api:
    image: ghcr.io/your-org/your-fork-api:latest
    labels:
      wud.trigger: docker

The wud.trigger: docker label tells WUD to watch this image and auto-recreate the container when a new tag is published. Without this label, WUD reports updates but doesn’t recreate.

Setup

Section titled “Setup”

Add optional notification channels to compose/.env:

Terminal window
# Discord
WUD_DISCORD_WEBHOOK=https://discord.com/api/webhooks/...


# Slack
WUD_SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
WUD_SLACK_CHANNEL=docker-updates

For private GHCR images:

Terminal window
WUD_GHCR_USERNAME=your-gh-username
WUD_GHCR_TOKEN=ghp_xxx

Override the check schedule if needed:

Terminal window
WUD_SCHEDULE="0 */6 * * *"   # every 6 hours instead of the default

Boot production:

Terminal window
STACK=prod ./scripts/compose-up.sh

WUD will start. Access the dashboard at http://<vps-ip>:3033/ or http://localhost:3033/ if you’re on the VPS.

Hybrid policy explained

Section titled “Hybrid policy explained”

App images (api, ui):

  • Labeled with wud.trigger: docker in the compose file.
  • WUD auto-pulls new :latest tags and recreates containers.
  • No downtime (rolling restart during the pull).

Base images (postgres, valkey, traefik):

  • No trigger label, or labeled differently.
  • WUD reports available updates on the dashboard and via notifications.
  • You read release notes, take backups (especially for Postgres), then update manually.

Manual base-image updates:

When you decide to upgrade Postgres or Traefik:

  1. Take a backup (see Backups).
  2. Edit the pinned tag in infra/compose/compose/docker-compose.yml:
postgres:
  image: postgres:17.1   # was postgres:17.0
  1. Recreate the service:
Terminal window
docker compose pull postgres
docker compose up -d postgres
  1. Check the logs:
Terminal window
docker compose logs postgres | tail -20

Notifications

Section titled “Notifications”

Dashboard at :3033 always works. Slack and Discord integration is optional; enable only the channels you want. WUD delivers notifications for:

  • New app image tags (auto-deploying).
  • New base image tags (notify-only, for you to review).
  • Failed check runs (network issues, etc.).

Disable WUD

Section titled “Disable WUD”

If you don’t want automatic app deployments:

Terminal window
WITH_WUD=0 STACK=prod ./scripts/compose-up.sh

Then manually trigger updates with:

Terminal window
docker compose pull api ui
docker compose up -d api ui
Section titled “Related”