The dvc unfreeze command in DVC (Data Version Control) is used to unfreeze stages in the DVC pipeline. Unfreezing a stage allows DVC to resume tracking changes in the dependencies of that stage, enabling re-execution when necessary.
Here’s a more detailed explanation of the dvc unfreeze command:
- DVC Pipeline: A DVC pipeline consists of multiple stages that represent different processing steps or computations within your data pipeline.
- Freezing Stages: By using the dvc freeze command, you can freeze specific stages in the pipeline. When a stage is frozen, DVC stops tracking changes in the dependencies of that stage, preventing re-execution.
- Tracking Dependencies: DVC automatically tracks the dependencies of each stage, ensuring that when changes occur in the dependencies, the corresponding stages are re-executed to update the output data.
- Unfreezing Stages: The dvc unfreeze command allows you to unfreeze previously frozen stages. Unfreezing a stage allows DVC to start tracking changes in the dependencies of that stage again.
- Re-execution: After unfreezing a stage, if any changes occur in the dependencies, DVC will track those changes and re-execute the stage when necessary. This ensures that the output data remains up-to-date.
- Managing Pipeline Changes: Unfreezing stages can be helpful when you want to resume tracking changes and re-execution after temporarily disabling a stage. It gives you the flexibility to experiment with different parts of the pipeline while keeping other stages frozen.
Here’s an example usage of dvc unfreeze:
$ dvc unfreeze [stage_name]
In this example, [stage_name] should be replaced with the name of the stage you want to unfreeze. The stage name corresponds to the name specified in the DVC pipeline definition file (e.g., dvc.yaml or dvc.lock).
By using dvc unfreeze, you can allow DVC to resume tracking changes and re-execution for specific stages in your DVC pipeline. This ensures that the output data stays up-to-date based on the changes in the dependencies.
It’s important to note that dvc unfreeze applies only to previously frozen stages. If a stage was not frozen, running dvc unfreeze will not have any effect on it.
dvc unfreeze Command Examples
1. Unfreeze 1 or more specified stages:
# dvc unfreeze stage_name_a [stage_name_b ...]