Uptime Kuma on a VPS: watch your sites from a server of your own

The short answer: Uptime Kuma is a free program that checks every minute whether your sites are up and warns you (by Telegram, e-mail and others) when they are not. It runs in a Docker container, on a VPS. The most important point: put it on a different server from the one it watches, or it falls together with the site and warns nobody.

What the site needs

What What to do
What it watches Web pages (response code and a word in the text), ports, pings, certificates about to expire, scheduled tasks that must “give a signal”.
How it warns Telegram, e-mail, WhatsApp through other tools, and many other channels: Alerts by Telegram.
Where it runs On a VPS, in Docker. It needs a port (3001, by default) and HTTPS behind a proxy.
Away from the watched server If you watch sites on the same VPS it runs on, a VPS failure wipes out the watcher. Use another server, or a small VPS just for this.
Data It lives in a folder on the server: that is what you back up.

Getting started

1 Install Docker on the VPS: Installing Docker.
2 Create a folder and in it the compose.yaml file: services:
  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma:1
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3001:3001"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
3 Start it: docker compose up -d. The port stays on the server itself (127.0.0.1); outside access goes through the proxy.
4 Put the proxy and HTTPS in front (Uptime Kuma uses real-time connections, so the proxy must let them through): Nginx in front of a container and HTTPS for a container.
5 Open the address, create the administrator account, add each site to watch and connect a notice. Test by switching off a trial site.
Create the administrator account on the very first visit. Until then, anyone who reaches the address can create it. Use a long password and the program’s own two-step verification. Back up the data folder: Volumes and data folders.
For a simple check without a server of your own, see An alert when the site goes down. To update Uptime Kuma without losing data: Updating a Docker application.

Want help setting up your watcher? Open a ticket with the VPS plan.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Getting an alert when your site goes down: a simple uptime check

Sending alerts to Telegram from your website or a script

Installing Docker and Docker Compose on a VPS

Nginx as a reverse proxy in front of a container

HTTPS for a container: a certificate and a domain

Updating a Docker application without losing data

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