Recreate container

The Recreate container action recreates a container on a Portainer endpoint. This is more disruptive than a restart, because the container is stopped, removed, and then created again with the same configuration. You can optionally pull the image first to update the container to the latest version.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To recreate a container from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create to start a new one.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select Portainer: Recreate container.
6. Select the Container to recreate.
7. Optionally, set a timeout and whether to pull the image first.
8. Select Save.

This action does not support targets. In the UI, you select the container through the Container field instead of choosing an area, device, entity, or label.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as portainer.recreate_container:

action: portainer.recreate_container
data:
  device_id: a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4
  pull_image: true

Options in YAML

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: update a container to the latest image

This automation recreates a container and pulls the latest image first, so the running container picks up a new release.

• Trigger: A scheduled time
• Action: Portainer: Recreate container

alias: "Update Portainer container to latest image"
triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: "04:30:00"
actions:
  - action: portainer.recreate_container
    data:
      device_id: a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4
      pull_image: true

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

• Prune unused images: Removes unused images from a Portainer endpoint.