Comparison
Automated rollbackvsRollback
Automated rollback
error rate crossed the threshold ninety seconds in and the system reverted to the previous version without waking anyone.
Reverting a release automatically when post-deploy signals breach a threshold. It converts a class of incident into a non-event, and it depends entirely on the previous artefact still being deployable — which is a statement about migrations, not about the pipeline. Forward-only changes to schemas and data are exactly what make automated rollback impossible, which is why they deserve the scrutiny they get.
Full entry →Rollback
the deploy broke something so you put the previous version back rather than trying to fix forward under pressure.
Returning to the previously known-good version. It is the correct default response to a bad deploy, and its speed is a top-tier reliability metric. It is only available if every change is backward compatible with the previous version's data — an unrecoverable migration makes rollback impossible exactly when you need it.
Full entry →