Rolling Back Releases

1. Rolling Back Release

helm rollback api          # to immediately preceding revision
helm rollback api 5        # to specific revision number

Command	Behavior
`helm history api`	List revisions to pick from
`helm rollback api 3`	Recreates manifests from revision 3; bumps revision to N+1

Field	Meaning
REVISION	Monotonic counter
UPDATED	Timestamp of action
STATUS	`deployed`, `superseded`, `failed`, `uninstalled`
CHART	Chart + version installed
APP VERSION	`.Chart.AppVersion` at that point

Behavior	Detail
Manifests restored	From stored Helm Secret for target revision
CRDs	NOT rolled back
PVCs	Retained unless explicitly deleted
External resources (cloud LBs)	Re-applied; may change addresses

Flag	Effect
`--atomic`	Wait for Ready; on failure, auto-rollback to pre-rollback revision

Flag	Behavior
`--force`	Recreate resources where patching fails
`--no-hooks`	Skip pre/post-rollback hooks
`--recreate-pods` REMOVED	Removed in Helm 3

Flag	Default
`--timeout`	5m
`--wait`	Block until resources Ready

helm rollback api 5 --atomic --wait --timeout 10m

Flag	Behavior
`--cleanup-on-fail`	Delete newly created resources on failure

Issue	Resolution
Release stuck `pending-rollback`	Manually patch Helm Secret: `kubectl patch secret sh.helm.release.v1.X.vN -p '{"metadata":{"labels":{"status":"deployed"}}}'`
Immutable field changed	Use `--force` to recreate, or migrate manually
Hook timeout	Increase `--timeout` or add `--no-hooks`
CRD schema drift	Roll back CRD manifests manually first