> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.osohq.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Operations

> Run and maintain a self-hosted Oso for Agents deployment.

## Upgrades

Data Definition Language (DDL) changes apply automatically on startup.

<Note>
  Minor and patch releases contain no DDL changes and are safe to apply without a fresh backup. Major releases may include a DDL change, so back up first.
</Note>

1. Before a major-version upgrade, back up both PostgreSQL databases.
2. Stop the stack, load the new images, and start it again. Expect brief downtime if you run a single stack.
3. Pending DDL changes apply on boot. If the schema doesn't match a clean upgrade path, startup stops rather than half-applying the change.

<Warning>
  There is no rollback — a backup is your rollback path. To roll back, restore the backups and start the previous images, and never start older images against a newer database.
</Warning>

## Backups and restore

PostgreSQL is the only stateful component; everything else rebuilds from it on start. Back up both databases and `.env`:

```bash theme={null}
pg_dump "$CONTROL_DATABASE_URL" > control.sql
pg_dump "$AGENT_EVENTS_DATABASE_URL" > agent_events.sql
```

To restore, load the dumps into a fresh PostgreSQL and start the stack.

## Configuration file management

Keep the generated secrets stable — changing `SECRET_KEY` logs users out, and changing `CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_LOCAL_KEY` makes stored integration credentials unreadable. See [Installation → Secrets](/docs/oso-for-agents/self-hosting/installation#secrets) for the full list.

## High availability

A single stack is not highly available on its own. For high availability, run two stacks behind a load balancer.

<Note>
  In this mode, configuration changes can take up to 60 seconds to be reflected in the enforcement engine.
</Note>

## Data retention

The `event` table stores full agent transcripts and grows without bound. Choose a retention window and prune it on a schedule yourself.

<Note>
  Alerts reference events by id, so prune them on the same window.
</Note>