diff --git a/docs/faq.md b/docs/faq.md
index 82e2f3a17..427d2d25c 100644
--- a/docs/faq.md
+++ b/docs/faq.md
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ As described in [How is the effective configuration determined?](#how-is-the-eff
 
 Refer to both of these for inspiration. Still, as mentioned in [Configuring the playbook](configuring-playbook.md), you're only ever supposed to edit your own `inventory/host_vars/matrix.DOMAIN/vars.yml` file and nothing else inside the playbook (unless you're meaning to contribute new features).
 
-**Note**: some of the roles (`roles/galaxy/*`) live in separate repositories and are only installed after your run `just roles` (or `make roles`).
+**Note**: some of the roles (`roles/galaxy/*`) live in separate repositories and are only installed after your run `just roles` (or `make roles`) or `just update` (which automatically does `git pull` and `just roles`).
 
 ### I'd like to adjust some configuration which doesn't have a corresponding variable. How do I do it?
 
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ Besides that, each role (component) aims to provide a `matrix_SOME_COMPONENT_con
 
 Check each role's `roles/*/*/defaults/main.yml` for the corresponding variable and an example for how use it.
 
-**Note**: some of the roles (`roles/galaxy/*`) live in separate repositories and are only installed after your run `just roles` (or `make roles`).
+**Note**: some of the roles (`roles/galaxy/*`) live in separate repositories and are only installed after your run `just roles` (or `make roles`) or `just update` (which automatically does `git pull` and `just roles`).
 
 
 ## Installation
diff --git a/docs/installing.md b/docs/installing.md
index c85ce1e63..01cf20e84 100644
--- a/docs/installing.md
+++ b/docs/installing.md
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 If you've [configured your DNS](configuring-dns.md) and have [configured the playbook](configuring-playbook.md), you can start the installation procedure.
 
-**Before installing** and each time you update the playbook in the future, you will need to update the Ansible roles in this playbook by running `just roles`. `just roles` is a shortcut (a `roles` target defined in [`justfile`](../justfile) and executed by the [`just`](https://github.com/casey/just) utility) which ultimately runs [ansible-galaxy](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/cli/ansible-galaxy.html) to download Ansible roles. If you don't have `just`, you can also manually run the `roles` commands seen in the `justfile`.
+**Before installing** and each time you update the playbook in the future, you will need to update the Ansible roles in this playbook by running `just roles`. `just roles` is a shortcut (a `roles` target defined in [`justfile`](../justfile) and executed by the [`just`](https://github.com/casey/just) utility) which ultimately runs [agru](https://gitlab.com/etke.cc/tools/agru) or [ansible-galaxy](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/cli/ansible-galaxy.html) (depending on what is available in your system) to download Ansible roles. If you don't have `just`, you can also manually run the `roles` commands seen in the `justfile`.
+
+There's another shortcut (`just update`) which updates the playbook (`git pull`) and updates roles (`just update`) at the same time.
 
 
 ## Playbook tags introduction
diff --git a/docs/maintenance-upgrading-services.md b/docs/maintenance-upgrading-services.md
index b65eadd77..8b903fbb4 100644
--- a/docs/maintenance-upgrading-services.md
+++ b/docs/maintenance-upgrading-services.md
@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@ If you want to be notified when new versions of Synapse are released, you should
 
 To upgrade services:
 
-- update your playbook directory (`git pull`), so you'd obtain everything new we've done
+- update your playbook directory and all upstream Ansible roles (defined in the `requirements.yml` file) using:
+
+- either: `just update`
+- or: a combination of `git pull` and `just role` (or `make roles`)
 
 - take a look at [the changelog](../CHANGELOG.md) to see if there have been any backward-incompatible changes that you need to take care of
 
-- download the upstream Ansible roles used by the playbook by running `just roles`
-
-- re-run the [playbook setup](installing.md) and restart all services: `just setup-all`
+- re-run the [playbook setup](installing.md) and restart all services: `just install-all` or `just setup-all`
 
 **Note**: major version upgrades to the internal PostgreSQL database are not done automatically. To upgrade it, refer to the [upgrading PostgreSQL guide](maintenance-postgres.md#upgrading-postgresql).
diff --git a/docs/prerequisites.md b/docs/prerequisites.md
index d1259e6fc..9fcadd275 100644
--- a/docs/prerequisites.md
+++ b/docs/prerequisites.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ If your distro runs within an [LXC container](https://linuxcontainers.org/), you
 
 - [`git`](https://git-scm.com/) is the recommended way to download the playbook to your computer. `git` may also be required on the server if you will be [self-building](self-building.md) components.
 
-- [`just`](https://github.com/casey/just) for running `just roles`, etc. (see [`justfile`](../justfile)), although you can also run these commands manually
+- [`just`](https://github.com/casey/just) for running `just roles`, `just update`, etc. (see [`justfile`](../justfile)), although you can also run these commands manually
 
 - An HTTPS-capable web server at the base domain name (`<your-domain>`) which is capable of serving static files. Unless you decide to [Serve the base domain from the Matrix server](configuring-playbook-base-domain-serving.md) or alternatively, to use DNS SRV records for [Server Delegation](howto-server-delegation.md).
 
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index b7ca7d2c4..72609d572 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ default:
 # Pulls external Ansible roles
 roles:
     #!/usr/bin/env sh
+    echo "[NOTE] This command just updates the roles, but if you want to update everything at once (playbook, roles, etc.) - use 'just update'"
     if [ -x "$(command -v agru)" ]; then
     	agru
     else
@@ -12,9 +13,25 @@ roles:
     	ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml -p roles/galaxy/ --force
     fi
 
-# Updates requirements.yml if there are any new tags available. Requires agru
-update:
-    @agru -u
+# Updates the playbook and installs the necessary Ansible roles pinned in requirements.yml. If a -u flag is passed, also updates the requirements.yml file with new role versions (if available)
+update *flags: update-playbook-only
+    #!/usr/bin/env sh
+    if [ -x "$(command -v agru)" ]; then
+        echo {{ if flags == "" { "Installing roles pinned in requirements.yml..." } else if flags == "-u" { "Updating roles and pinning new versions in requirements.yml..." } else { "Unknown flags passed" } }}
+        agru {{ flags }}
+    else
+        echo "[NOTE] You are using the standard ansible-galaxy tool to install roles, which is slow and lacks other features. We recommend installing the 'agru' tool to speed up the process: https://gitlab.com/etke.cc/tools/agru#where-to-get"
+        echo "Installing roles..."
+        rm -rf roles/galaxy
+        ansible-galaxy install -r requirements.yml -p roles/galaxy/ --force
+    fi
+
+# Updates the playbook without installing/updating Ansible roles
+update-playbook-only:
+    @echo "Updating playbook..."
+    @git stash -q
+    @git pull -q
+    @-git stash pop -q
 
 # Runs ansible-lint against all roles in the playbook
 lint: