When would you perform a rollback, and what should it include?

• A. If a change fails or introduces risk; rollback consists of reverting changes and validating system state.
• B. Only during planned downtime.
• C. To delete the failed change.
• D. To blame users.

Answer: (A)

Rollbacks are triggered when a change fails or introduces risk, and the goal is to return the system to a known good state. The best approach is to revert the changes and verify that the system is back to normal.

What that includes: undoing the modifications made by the change (code, configuration, and any data migrations), restoring prior configurations and data as needed, and then running validation checks to confirm that services are functioning correctly and data integrity is preserved. It’s important to have a rollback plan in place with backups and versioned artifacts so you can perform the reversal reliably. After reverting, monitor the system and perform a quick post-change review to ensure no hidden issues remain.

Note that rollbacks aren’t limited to planned downtime; they’re appropriate during incidents when the change creates failures or unacceptable risk. It’s not about deleting the failed change or assigning blame—it's about restoring stability and safety.