diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index eadb4c7..d0c5617 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -153,6 +153,26 @@ To do so, use:
 sudo bash /distillery/provision.sh SLUG
 ```
 
+## Rebuild an instance -- 'rebuild.sh'
+
+Sometimes it becomes necessary (because of changes to this project) to rebuild the docker image running a certain docker instance. 
+To do so, use:
+
+
+```bash
+sudo bash /distillery/rebuild.sh SLUG
+```
+
+Note that rebuilding an instance does restart the docker container resulting in a small (typical < 1 second) interruption to the website in question. 
+Furthermore, while the container recreated, the old image stays on the host. 
+To delete all instances, run:
+
+```bash
+sudo docker image prune --all
+```
+
+
+
 ## Purge an existing WissKI instance -- 'purge.sh'
 
 
diff --git a/distillery/lib/40_templates.sh b/distillery/lib/40_templates.sh
index be2a9fe..8ddb5df 100644
--- a/distillery/lib/40_templates.sh
+++ b/distillery/lib/40_templates.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ function install_resource_dir() {
     for filename in "$from"/*; do
         dest="$to/`basename "${filename}"`"
         echo "Writing \"$dest\""
-        cp -r "$filename"  "$dest"
+        cp -rTv "$filename"  "$dest"
     done
 }
 
diff --git a/distillery/lib/50_utils.sh b/distillery/lib/50_utils.sh
index 40793af..443235c 100644
--- a/distillery/lib/50_utils.sh
+++ b/distillery/lib/50_utils.sh
@@ -13,4 +13,12 @@ export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
 # This file just sets a few utility functions to be used by the code. 
 # randompw generates a random password as per the configuration file. 
-alias randompw="cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w $PASSWORD_LENGTH | head -n 1"
\ No newline at end of file
+alias randompw="cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w $PASSWORD_LENGTH | head -n 1"
+
+# update_stack fully updates a docker-compose stack in the given location. 
+function update_stack() {
+    cd "$1"
+    docker-compose pull
+    docker-compose build --pull
+    docker-compose up -d
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/distillery/rebuild.sh b/distillery/rebuild.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8299a78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distillery/rebuild.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+# read the lib/shared.sh and read the slug argument. 
+DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
+cd "$DIR"
+source "$DIR/lib/lib.sh"
+require_slug_argument
+
+
+# if the site doesn't exist, I can't open a shell. 
+if ! sql_bookkeep_exists "$SLUG"; then
+    log_error "=> Site '$SLUG' does not exist in bookeeping table. "
+    echo "I can't rebuild it. "
+    exit 1
+fi;
+
+# Read everything from the database
+read -r INSTANCE_BASE_DIR MYSQL_DATABASE MYSQL_USER GRAPHDB_REPO GRAPHDB_USER <<< "$(sql_bookkeep_load "${SLUG}" "filesystem_base,sql_database,sql_user,graphdb_repository,graphdb_user" | tail -n +2)"
+
+log_info " => Updating compose files"
+install_resource_dir "compose/runtime" "$INSTANCE_BASE_DIR"
+
+log_info "=> Rebuilding and restarting '$INSTANCE_BASE_DIR'"
+update_stack "$INSTANCE_BASE_DIR"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/distillery/shell.sh b/distillery/shell.sh
index 8cec13a..6ce8c7a 100644
--- a/distillery/shell.sh
+++ b/distillery/shell.sh
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ DISABLE_LOG=1
 DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
 cd "$DIR"
 source "$DIR/lib/lib.sh"
-require_slug_argument
 DISABLE_LOG=0
+require_slug_argument
+
 
 # if the site doesn't exist, I can't open a shell. 
 if ! sql_bookkeep_exists "$SLUG"; then
diff --git a/distillery/system_update.sh b/distillery/system_update.sh
index cdf24cd..920b701 100755
--- a/distillery/system_update.sh
+++ b/distillery/system_update.sh
@@ -6,14 +6,6 @@ DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
 cd "$DIR"
 source "$DIR/lib/lib.sh"
 
-# update_stack fully updates a docker-compose stack in the given location. 
-function update_stack() {
-    cd "$1"
-    docker-compose pull
-    docker-compose build --pull
-    docker-compose up -d
-}
-
 log_info "=> Rebuilding and restarting 'web' stack"
 update_stack "$DEPLOY_WEB_DIR"