orbitd(1)Mizuchi Labs Manualorbitd(1)
mizuchi@labs:$ ~ man orbitd
NAME
orbitd
A container update daemon that automatically keeps your Docker containers up to date.
★ 2 · last pushed 2026-09-25
DESCRIPTION
Orbitd is a set and forget container update daemon for Docker. It watches your containers and rolls out new images for you whenever they appear.
Configuration, networks, volumes, and labels survive every update. By default all containers are checked every 12 hours, and a failed update restores the previous container.
Old images are removed after successful updates, and label control lets you opt specific containers in or out.
FEATURES
- Zero configuration with sensible defaults
- Automatic rollback that restores the previous container on update failure
- Flexible policies: digest only or semantic versioning for patch, minor, or major
- Label control to opt in or opt out specific containers
- Image cleanup that removes old images after successful updates
- Docker Swarm support since v0.1.9
- Private registry auth through the Docker credential chain
QUICK START
Docker Compose
services:
orbitd:
image: ghcr.io/mizuchilabs/orbitd:latest
container_name: orbitd
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:roContainer labels
services:
api:
image: myapi:1.0.0
labels:
- "orbitd.enable=true"
- "orbitd.policy=minor"CONFIGURATION
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| ORBITD_SCHEDULE | Cron schedule or interval descriptor. Also --schedule. Default: @every 12h. |
| ORBITD_POLICY | Update policy: digest, patch, minor, or major. Also --policy. Default: digest. |
| ORBITD_CLEANUP | Remove old images after updates. Also --cleanup. Default: true. |
| ORBITD_REQUIRE_LABEL | Only update labeled containers. Also --require-label. Default: false. |
| ORBITD_DEBUG | Enable verbose logging. Also --debug. Default: false. |
RELATED
- A Silent Watchtower Replacementblog/orbitd
LINKS
SELF-HOSTED VS COMMERCIAL
Self-hosting orbitd is free under the Apache-2.0 license. Run it on your own iron. Commercial licensing, support, and managed offerings for businesses are on the business page.