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Keeping Backstage Updated

Backstage is always improving, so it's a good idea to stay in sync with the latest releases. Backstage is more of a library than an application or service; similar to create-react-app, the @backstage/create-app tool gives you a starting point that's meant to be evolved.

Managing package versions with the Backstage yarn plugin​

The Backstage yarn plugin makes it easier to manage Backstage package versions, by determining the appropriate version for each package based on the overall Backstage version in backstage.json. This avoids the need to update every package.json across your Backstage monorepo, and means that when adding new @backstage dependencies, you don't need to worry about figuring out the right version to use to match the currently-installed release of Backstage.

Requirements​

In order to use the yarn plugin, you'll need to be using yarn 4.1.1 or greater.

Installation​

To install the yarn plugin, run the following command in your Backstage monorepo:

yarn plugin import https://versions.backstage.io/v1/tags/main/yarn-plugin

The resulting changes in the file system should be committed to your repo.

Usage​

When the yarn plugin is installed, versions for currently-released @backstage packages can be replaced in package.json with the string "backstage:^". This instructs yarn to resolve the version based on the overall Backstage version in backstage.json.

The backstage-cli versions:bump command documented below will detect the installation of the yarn plugin, and when it's installed, will automatically migrate dependencies across the monorepo to use it.

Updating Backstage versions with backstage-cli​

The Backstage CLI has a command to bump all @backstage packages and dependencies you're using to the latest versions: versions:bump.

yarn backstage-cli versions:bump

The reason for bumping all @backstage packages at once is to maintain the dependencies that they have between each other.

By default the bump command will upgrade @backstage packages to the latest main release line which is released monthly. For those in a hurry that want to track the next release line which releases weekly can do so using the --release next option.

yarn backstage-cli versions:bump --release next

If you are using other plugins you can pass in the --pattern option to update more than just the @backstage/* dependencies.

yarn backstage-cli versions:bump --pattern '@{backstage,roadiehq}/*'

Following create-app template changes​

The @backstage/create-app command creates the initial structure of your Backstage installation from a template. The source of this template in the Backstage repository is updated periodically, but your local app and backend packages are established at create-app time and won't automatically get these template updates.

For this reason, any changes made to the template are documented along with upgrade instructions in the changelog of the @backstage/create-app package. We recommend peeking at this changelog for any applicable updates when upgrading packages. As an alternative, the Backstage Upgrade Helper provides a consolidated view of all the changes between two versions of Backstage. You can find the current version of your Backstage installation in backstage.json.

More information on dependency mismatches​

Backstage is structured as a monorepo with Yarn workspaces. This means the app and backend packages, as well as any custom plugins you've added, are separate packages with their own package.json and dependencies.

When a given dependency version is the same between different packages, the dependency is hoisted to the main node_modules folder in the monorepo root to be shared between packages. When different versions of the same dependency are encountered, Yarn creates a node_modules folder within a particular package. This can lead to multiple versions of the same package being installed and used in the same app.

All Backstage core packages are implemented in such as way that package duplication is not a problem. For example, duplicate installations of packages like @backstage/core-plugin-api, @backstage/core-components, @backstage/plugin-catalog-react, and @backstage/backend-plugin-api are all acceptable.

While package duplication might be acceptable in many cases, you might want to deduplicate packages for the purpose of optimizing bundle size and installation speed. We recommend using deduplication utilities such as yarn dedupe to trim down the number of duplicate packages.

Proxy​

The Backstage CLI uses global-agent to configure HTTP/HTTPS proxy settings using environment variables. This allows you to route the CLI’s network traffic through a proxy server, which can be useful in environments with restricted internet access.

Example Configuration​

export GLOBAL_AGENT_HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.company.com:8080
export GLOBAL_AGENT_HTTPS_PROXY=https://secure-proxy.company.com:8080
export GLOBAL_AGENT_NO_PROXY=localhost,internal.company.com