Improving Docker Image Update Efficiency with latest and latest-rc Tags

[Jacob Shilitz (jacobshilitz)]

When we tag Docker images as latest or latest-rc, we can better utilize automated update tools such as Watchtower.

Here are a few key advantages:

1. Simplicity: By using tags like latest or latest-rc, we eliminate the need to manually update or specify the version number every time we want to pull, run or upgrade an image. By simply using latest or latest-rc, we can access the most recent stable or release candidate version respectively.
2. Automated updates with Watchtower: Watchtower is a tool that can periodically check for new versions of Docker images that we are using, based on the tags. If a new version of an image tagged latest or latest-rc is available, Watchtower automatically pulls and uses it, minimizing the need for manual intervention.

Here's how we do it with docker:

docker tag karrio/server:2024.2.rc7 karrio/server:latest-rc
docker push karrio/server:latest-rc

It's important to keep in mind that latest or latest-rc tags are simply conventions. They do not automatically point to the most recently pushed or built image unless we explicitly tag the image as latest or latest-rc. Therefore, we have the responsibility of tagging an image as latest or latest-rc during the build and management of Docker images.

[Dan (danh91)]

Hey Jacob Shilitz (@jacobshilitz),

Thanks for the details. I just tagged and pushed karrio/server:2024.2.rc7 as latest-rc
And karrio/server:2024.2.rc4 as latest since it has been stable for a while.

I will tag the 2024.2 as latest later this week