Automating Zero-Downtime Deployments with Dokploy

Configuring Dokploy for rolling updates and blue-green deployments so your users never see downtime.

Prerequisites

• Dokploy installed
• Application Dockerized

Step 1: Versioned Docker Images

Tag images with semver:

docker build -t myapp:1.0.0 .

Push to registry.

Step 2: Dokploy Config for Rolling Updates

dokploy.yaml:

apps:
  myapp:
    image: myregistry/myapp:${VERSION}
    container_name: myapp
    update:
      type: rolling
      max_unavailable: 1
      delay: 10s

Set VERSION via env.

Step 3: Deploy Updated Version

export VERSION=1.0.1
git push dokploy main

Dokploy pulls new image, starts new container, stops old one after healthcheck.

Step 4: Healthchecks

Define healthcheck in Dockerfile:

HEALTHCHECK --interval=10s --timeout=5s --retries=3 \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost:3000/health || exit 1

Ensures new container is healthy before replacing.

Step 5: Blue-Green Strategy

apps:
  myapp-blue:
    image: myregistry/myapp:${VERSION}
    port: 3001
  myapp-green:
    image: myregistry/myapp:${VERSION}
    port: 3002
  myapp:
    proxy:
      to: myapp-${COLOR}

Switch COLOR env between blue and green.

Rolling updates for most cases, blue-green for critical switches. Healthchecks make both strategies reliable.