Use GITHub actions to make the "latest" version an old version

Question

I'm using GitHub Actions and Docker WatchTower to update my images on the fly when I check-in my software (no, it is not crucial software. It is more important to have a lean CI/CD).

name: Docker Image CI
on:
 push:
  branches: [ main ]
jobs:
 build:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
   steps:
   - uses: actions/checkout@v3
   - name: Build the Docker image
     run: docker build . -t me/myrepo:${{github.run_number}}
     #:$(date +%s)
     #docker build --rm -t ne/myrepo .

   - name: Login to Docker Hub
     env:
      DOCKER_USER: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USER }}   
      DOCKER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}  
     run: |
      echo $DOCKER_USER
      docker login -u $DOCKER_USER -p $DOCKER_PASSWORD

    - name: Push the new Tag to Docker Hub
      run: |
       docker push me/myrepo:${{github.run_number}}

This works very nicely.

But watch tower can only download the latest version of a version e.g. latest. Best solution would be I could keep the incrementing versions on github actions and watchtower would take the highest version. I guess it cannot do that.

• or -

I tag the latest version (e.g. 49) also as the latest. How would you do that with git hub actions? This should be nothing else than giving multiple tags to a build, no?

Answer 1

Well, I actually answered it almost myself when phrasing the question.

Simply create 2 builds and 2 images. One incrementing (so that you always could roll-back to an older version) and update the latest version.

Prioritize the latest so that it is available faster.

- name: Build the Docker image
  run: docker build . -t me/myrepo:latest    

- name: Build the Docker image
  run: docker build .

-t me/myrepo:${{github.run_number}}

and then push it twice.

- name: Push the also the latest Tag to Docker Hub
  run: |
    docker push me/myrepo:latest

- name: Push the new Tag to Docker Hub
  run: |
    docker push me/myrepo:${{github.run_number}}