Recovering and Rolling Back Configuration Changes Made with the Auth0 CLI

Knowledge Articles
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Overview

This article provides proactive steps to take when using the Auth0 CLI to avoid unintended configuration changes.

Applies To

  • Auth0 CLI

Cause

Auth0 CLI executes commands directly against the live tenant configuration. Crucially, the Auth0 CLI does not offer a built-in, direct rollback command to revert the tenant state to a specific point in time before a set of changes were applied. This means that if a configuration change introduced via the CLI causes issues, developers need alternative strategies to recover the previous state.

Solution

As there’s no native CLI rollback command, developers should rely on proactive and reactive strategies:

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Version Control.

This is the most robust approach. Treat the Auth0 configuration as code and manage it using version control systems (like Git) and declarative configuration tools.

Define the desired Auth0 tenant state using configuration files managed by tools like Ansible or Terraform.

    • Ansible Integration: Integrating the Auth0 CLI with Ansible allows developers to define tenant configurations in YAML playbooks. These playbooks call Auth0 CLI commands idempotently.
      • How it helps rollback: Store these Ansible playbooks in a Git repository. When a change is needed, modify the playbook, commit it, and run Ansible. If a rollback is required, revert the commit in Git to the last known good state, and re-run Ansible. Ansible, using the Auth0 CLI, will then adjust the Auth0 tenant configuration to match the state defined in the reverted playbook.
      • Resource: Get Started With the Auth0 CLI and Ansible: Be a Devops Hero! Automate Your Identity Infrastructure with Auth0 CLI and Ansible
    • Terraform Integration: Use the official Auth0 Terraform Provider. Define your Auth0 resources (applications, APIs, rules, etc.) in Terraform configuration files (.tf).
      • How it helps rollback: Store these .tf files in Git. Use terraform plan to preview changes and terraform apply to implement them. For rollback, revert the changes in the Git repository to a previous commit and run terraform apply again. Terraform will calculate the difference and revert the live Auth0 configuration to match the state defined in the files.
      • Resource: Auth0 Terraform Provider Documentation: Auth0 Provider | Terraform
  • Benefits: Provides a clear history of changes, enables peer review through pull requests, allows deterministic state management, and facilitates easy rollback by reverting code and reapplying.

Always test recovery and rollback procedures in a safe environment before relying on them for production systems. The effectiveness of manual or export-based rollback depends heavily on the completeness of backups and the accuracy of the manual reversion process.