Uptime Kuma Setup: Self-Hosted Uptime Monitoring

Uptime Kuma is a self-hosted uptime monitoring tool that tracks the operational status of your services and websites. With a beautiful web interface, various monitor types, and rich notification integrations, it offers a great alternative to Uptime Robot.

What is Uptime Kuma?

Uptime Kuma's standout features:

Monitor Types: HTTP(S), TCP, DNS, Ping, Docker Container, Steam Game Server
Notification Channels: Telegram, Discord, Slack, Email, PagerDuty, Webhook, and 90+ integrations
Status Page: Customizable status page
SSL Monitoring: Certificate expiration date tracking
Maintenance Window: Define planned maintenance windows
2FA Support: Two-factor authentication
Multi-language: 40+ languages including English

Installation

Installation with Docker (Recommended)

hljs bash

docker run -d \
  --name uptime-kuma \
  --restart=always \
  -p 3001:3001 \
  -v uptime-kuma:/app/data \
  louislam/uptime-kuma:latest

After installation:

http://SERVER_IP:3001

Installation with Docker Compose

hljs yaml

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma:latest
    container_name: uptime-kuma
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3001:3001"
    volumes:
      - uptime-kuma:/app/data
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true

volumes:
  uptime-kuma:

hljs bash

docker compose up -d

HTTPS with Nginx Reverse Proxy

hljs nginx

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/uptime.example.com
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name uptime.example.com;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name uptime.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/uptime.example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/uptime.example.com/privkey.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3001;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

hljs bash

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/uptime.example.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo certbot --nginx -d uptime.example.com
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx

Initial Setup

Create an admin account on first login:

Set username and password
Log in
Add your first monitor with Add New Monitor

Monitor Types

HTTP(S) Monitor

For monitoring websites and API endpoints:

Monitor Type: HTTP(S)
Friendly Name: Homepage
URL: https://example.com
Heartbeat Interval: 60 seconds
Retries: 3
Accepted Status Codes: 200-299

Advanced HTTP settings:

hljs bash

# Keyword monitoring (search for specific text on page)
Monitor Type: HTTP(S) - Keyword
Keyword: "Welcome"

# JSON Query monitoring (API response check)
Monitor Type: HTTP(S) - JSON Query
JSON Path: $.status
Expected Value: ok

# Endpoint requiring Basic Auth
Authentication: Basic Auth
Username: api_user
Password: api_password

TCP Port Monitor

Monitor Type: TCP Port
Friendly Name: MySQL Database
Hostname: db.example.com
Port: 3306
Heartbeat Interval: 120 seconds

DNS Monitor

Monitor Type: DNS
Friendly Name: DNS Check
Hostname: example.com
Resolver Server: 8.8.8.8
DNS Resolve Type: A
Expected Value: 1.2.3.4

Ping Monitor

Monitor Type: Ping
Friendly Name: Server Ping
Hostname: 192.168.1.1
Heartbeat Interval: 60 seconds

Docker Container Monitor

hljs bash

# Monitor Docker container status
Monitor Type: Docker Container
Container Name / ID: nginx
Docker Host: /var/run/docker.sock

SSL Certificate Monitoring

Monitor Type: HTTP(S)
URL: https://example.com
# In SSL tab:
Enable SSL Certificate Expiry Notification: ON
Notify Before (days): 30

Notification Integrations

Telegram Notification

hljs bash

# 1. Create a bot from BotFather
# Set bot name and username with /newbot command
# Get Bot Token: 1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ

# 2. Get Chat ID
# Send a message to the bot, then:
curl https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getUpdates
# Note the "chat":{"id":123456789} value

Telegram settings in Uptime Kuma:

Notification Type: Telegram
Bot Token: 1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrSTUvwxYZ
Chat ID: 123456789
Message Thread ID: (optional, for group topics)

Discord Notification

hljs bash

# Create Webhook in Discord:
# Server Settings → Integrations → Webhooks → New Webhook
# Copy Webhook URL

Notification Type: Discord
Discord Webhook URL: https://discord.com/api/webhooks/...
Username: Uptime Kuma
Prefix: [ALERT]

Slack Notification

Notification Type: Slack
Slack Webhook URL: https://hooks.slack.com/services/...
Channel: #alerts
Username: Uptime Kuma
Icon Emoji: :warning:

Email (SMTP) Notification

Notification Type: Email (SMTP)
From Email: alerts@example.com
To Email: admin@example.com
SMTP Host: smtp.gmail.com
SMTP Port: 587
SMTP Username: alerts@example.com
SMTP Password: app-password
Security: STARTTLS

Webhook Notification

hljs bash

# Send notifications to any service with custom webhook
Notification Type: Webhook
Post URL: https://api.example.com/alerts
Content Type: application/json

# Example payload:
{
  "monitor": "{{monitorName}}",
  "status": "{{status}}",
  "message": "{{msg}}",
  "time": "{{time}}"
}

Creating a Status Page

New Status Page

Status Pages → New Status Page
Set page name and slug: status.example.com
Add logo and title
Add monitors to groups
Save with Save

Status Page Customization

hljs bash

# Status Page settings:
Title: Service Status
Description: Real-time status of all our services
Theme: Auto (Light/Dark)
Custom CSS: (custom styles)
Footer Text: © 2024 Company Name

# Domain binding:
Custom Domain: status.example.com
# DNS: CNAME status.example.com → uptime.example.com

Incident Management

hljs bash

# Create incident on status page:
# Status Pages → Edit → Incidents → Create Incident
Title: Planned Maintenance
Content: Maintenance will be performed between 02:00-04:00.
Style: info / warning / danger

Maintenance Window

To avoid false alarms during planned maintenance:

Maintenance → Add Maintenance
Title: Weekly Maintenance
Strategy: Recurring
Start Time: Sunday 02:00
End Time: Sunday 04:00
Timezone: UTC
Affected Monitors: All monitors

Updating Uptime Kuma

hljs bash

# Update with Docker
docker stop uptime-kuma
docker rm uptime-kuma
docker pull louislam/uptime-kuma:latest

# Restart (data preserved in volume)
docker run -d \
  --name uptime-kuma \
  --restart=always \
  -p 3001:3001 \
  -v uptime-kuma:/app/data \
  louislam/uptime-kuma:latest

Backup

hljs bash

# Backup Uptime Kuma data
docker exec uptime-kuma tar -czf /tmp/backup.tar.gz /app/data
docker cp uptime-kuma:/tmp/backup.tar.gz ./uptime-kuma-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz

# Restore
docker cp ./uptime-kuma-backup.tar.gz uptime-kuma:/tmp/
docker exec uptime-kuma tar -xzf /tmp/backup.tar.gz -C /

You can monitor all services running on your REXE servers with Uptime Kuma. With Telegram notifications, you'll be instantly informed of any service outages.

Uptime Kuma Setup: Self-Hosted Uptime Monitoring

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