Update a self-hosted installation

This guide walks you through updating a self-hosted installation of Operately to a newer version.

Before you start#

Log in to the server running Operately and navigate to the directory where Operately is running. By default this location is ~/operately.

Updating Operately#

The update process depends on your current version:

• Version 1.4.0 or later: Use the operately update script
• Before version 1.4.0: Manually update the Docker Compose configuration

If you’re on version 1.4.0 or later#

Using the operately script#

To update to the latest official release without specifying a version:

./operately update

To update to a specific version:

./operately update <version>

Replace <version> with the version you want to upgrade to. For example:

./operately update 1.4.0

./operately update 1.5.0

You can also update to nightly builds:

./operately update nightly-build-20260116-070020-49842cd04

If the script is not available#

Depending on the Operately version you installed for the first time, the operately script might not be available. In that case, you need to generate it first:

docker compose run --rm app sh -c "/opt/operately/bin/generate-script" > operately
chmod +x operately

After generating the script, you can use the update commands above.

If you’re on a version before 1.4.0#

You need to manually update the Docker Compose file.

Update the Docker Compose file#

Edit the docker-compose.yml file and update the Operately version tag:

# From this:
image: operately/operately:vOLD

# To this:
image: operately/operately:vNEW

Replace vOLD with your current version and vNEW with the target version you want to upgrade to.

Examples:

# From this:
image: operately/operately:1.2.0

# To this:
image: operately/operately:1.3.0

# From this:
image: operately/operately:1.2.0

# To this:
image: operately/operately:nightly-build-20260116-070020-49842cd04

Run database migrations#

docker compose run --rm app sh -c "/opt/operately/bin/migrate"

Restart the server#

docker compose up --wait --detach

Available versions#

• Official releases: https://github.com/operately/operately/releases
• Nightly releases: https://github.com/operately/nightly/releases