Gatus with Docker Compose

What Gatus needs

Only figures Gatus's own documentation publishes, each linked to the page it is on. Where the project gives no number, this page does not invent one.

On top of this, Caddy (the reverse proxy in the file) is a single small container.

Which hardware Gatus has images for

Read from each image's manifest list in its registry (anonymous, read-only) when this page was built. An app counts for a CPU only if every one of its images lists it.

• x86-64 PC or NAS (linux/amd64): every image has a build.
• Raspberry Pi 4/5, 64-bit OS (linux/arm64): every image has a build.
• Raspberry Pi 3 or Zero 2 W, 32-bit OS (linux/arm/v7): every image has a build.

A manifest says an image exists for a CPU, not how well Gatus runs on it: a build for arm64 or arm/v7 can still be too slow or need more memory than the board has. The RAM and disk Gatus publishes are in the table above and, for a whole set of apps against a Raspberry Pi, on Will it run on my machine?. A tag like latest can move to a new digest after the date checked.

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for Gatus alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front.

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: Gatus
# Each app block is its official compose definition. Only the names were prefixed with
# the app slug (services, containers, volumes, bind folders, .env variables) so any set of
# apps can share one file; other differences are listed under "Changed:" in each block.
# Only Caddy publishes ports. Secrets live in .env next to this file.

services:
  # ---- Caddy: the one reverse proxy, HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt ----
  # Source: https://caddyserver.com/docs/running (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Source: https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Caddyfile goes in ./caddy/Caddyfile. Fixed address 172.30.0.2 so apps can trust it exactly.
  caddy:
    image: "caddy:2"
    container_name: "caddy"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"
    volumes:
      - "./caddy:/etc/caddy"
      - "caddy-data:/data"
      - "caddy-config:/config"
    networks:
      proxy:
        ipv4_address: "172.30.0.2"

  # ---- Gatus (gatus.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/TwiN/gatus/blob/master/.examples/docker-compose-sqlite-storage/compose.yaml (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Source: https://github.com/TwiN/gatus/blob/master/README.md (checked 2026-10-08)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '8080:8080' port; Caddy reaches gatus:8080 on the proxy network.
  #          This is the README's sqlite-storage example, not the bare one: with the default memory storage "the data will not survive a restart".
  #          config.yaml keeps the example's storage block and its first endpoint, whose url (the documentation domain example.org there) is this status page's own address, https://gatus.example.org/.
  gatus:
    image: "twinproduction/gatus:latest"
    container_name: "gatus"
    volumes:
      - "./gatus/config:/config"
      - "./gatus/data:/data/"
    networks:
      proxy: {}

networks:
  # Pinned so the trusted-proxy address given to each app (172.30.0.2) is exact.
  # If "docker compose up" reports "Pool overlaps", change 172.30.0 here, in Caddy's
  # ipv4_address and in every trusted-proxy value to a free 172.x.0 range.
  proxy:
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: "172.30.0.0/24"
          ip_range: "172.30.0.128/25"
          gateway: "172.30.0.1"

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for gatus.example.org by itself once the DNS record points at your server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Caddyfile built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./caddy/Caddyfile next to docker-compose.yml.
# Caddy gets and renews a Let's Encrypt certificate for each name below by itself,
# once the DNS records point at this server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Gatus
gatus.example.org {
	reverse_proxy gatus:8080
}

Already running nginx, Nginx Proxy Manager, Caddy or Traefik? The reverse-proxy settings Gatus needs, for all four, each cited to Gatus's own docs.

.env

Gatus needs no secret here; the builder adds nothing you have to fill in by hand.

# .env for Gatus, from dankhost.com/app/gatus/. Nothing here is secret.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).
# None of the chosen apps needs a variable here.

The file Gatus needs next to the compose file

The builder writes it with your domain and fills every secret with random letters and digits made in your browser (crypto.getRandomValues); nothing is sent anywhere. Below, each secret is a FILL-IN-… placeholder instead, because a secret printed on a public page is the same for everyone who copies it.

./gatus/config/config.yaml

# config.yaml for Gatus, built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./gatus/config/config.yaml
# The storage block is the sqlite example's, so results survive a restart.
storage:
  type: sqlite
  path: /data/data.db

# The example's first endpoint, pointed at this status page's own address: it
# checks that the proxy answers and that its certificate is not about to expire.
# Add your own services below it.
endpoints:
  - name: back-end
    group: core
    url: "https://gatus.example.org/"
    interval: 5m
    conditions:
      - "[STATUS] == 200"
      - "[CERTIFICATE_EXPIRATION] > 48h"

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with gatus (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:

• Removed the documented '8080:8080' port; Caddy reaches gatus:8080 on the proxy network.
• This is the README's sqlite-storage example, not the bare one: with the default memory storage "the data will not survive a restart".
• config.yaml keeps the example's storage block and its first endpoint, whose url (the documentation domain example.org there) is this status page's own address, https://gatus.example.org/.

Notes for Gatus behind the proxy

• Put config.yaml (below) into ./gatus/config before the first start: Gatus expects config/config.yaml and reads every endpoint, alert and setting from it. Edit the endpoints list to your own services and restart Gatus after a change.
• Gatus has no login: the status page is public to anyone who reaches it. To protect it, the README's security block in config.yaml adds basic auth (a bcrypt hash of the password, base64-encoded) or OIDC.
• Neither the example nor the README sets a restart policy, so after a reboot Gatus stays down until docker compose up -d. Add restart: unless-stopped if you want it back by itself.
• The example uses twinproduction/gatus:latest, so each pull takes the newest release; the README's docker run lines use the :stable tag.

Back it up

Gatus publishes no backup procedure. Its state is the config.yaml you wrote and, with sqlite storage, the results history in data.db.

Below is the BACKUP.md the builder writes next to the compose file above: which of its folders and volumes hold data, what to copy with which container stopped, and a restore check. Pick more apps in the builder and it covers them all in one file.

# BACKUP.md built at dankhost.com for: Gatus

What to copy from the docker-compose.yml built with this file, the database dump each project documents (rewritten for the service names in that file), what to copy with which container stopped, and how to check the result. Run every command in the folder that holds docker-compose.yml.

The folders are owned by the containers' users: put sudo in front of tar if it says "Permission denied". Named volumes live under /var/lib/docker/volumes, not next to the compose file, so they are copied through a throwaway ubuntu container (Docker's documented --volumes-from method). tar makes a full copy each run; for large folders an incremental tool (restic, borg, rsync) saves time and space.

Never run "docker compose down -v" on this file: it deletes the named volumes of every app in it.

## Before you start

    BACKUP=/mnt/backup/selfhost   # change this: a disk or machine other than this server's system disk
    mkdir -p "$BACKUP"

## Every time: the three stack files

    tar czf "$BACKUP/stack-files.tar.gz" docker-compose.yml .env caddy

.env holds the database passwords and secret keys the apps were set up with; keep this archive as private as the data.

## Caddy (the reverse proxy)

Caddy's docs: 'The data directory must not be treated as a cache.' It holds the TLS certificates and their private keys; without it Caddy has to ask Let's Encrypt for every certificate again.

- caddy-data (named volume, /data in caddy)
  BACK UP: TLS certificates, private keys, OCSP staples.
- caddy-config (named volume, /config in caddy)
  SKIP: the last active configuration, kept for 'caddy run --resume', which this setup does not use: it starts from the Caddyfile.
- ./caddy (/etc/caddy in caddy)
  IN stack-files.tar.gz: the Caddyfile, copied with the stack files above.

Copy (Caddy keeps serving while you copy):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/caddy-data.tar /data

Restore check:

    tar tf "$BACKUP/caddy-data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK
    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /data && tar xvf /backup/caddy-data.tar --strip 1"

Sources:
- Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory: https://caddyserver.com/docs/conventions#data-directory (checked 2026-09-24)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-24)

## Gatus

Gatus publishes no backup procedure. Its state is the config.yaml you wrote and, with sqlite storage, the results history in data.db.

What this compose mounts:
- ./gatus/config (/config in gatus)
  BACK UP: config.yaml: every endpoint, condition and alert.
- ./gatus/data (/data in gatus)
  OPTIONAL: the SQLite database with past results, uptime and events; a new one starts empty.

1. Stop gatus. Stopping it keeps the SQLite database from changing mid-copy.

    docker compose stop gatus

2. Copy while gatus is stopped:

    tar czf "$BACKUP/gatus-config.tar.gz" ./gatus/config

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start gatus

Restore check:

    tar tzf "$BACKUP/gatus-config.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with gatus stopped):

    tar xzf "$BACKUP/gatus-config.tar.gz"   # recreates ./gatus/config; move the old folder aside first

Stop it, put ./gatus/config and ./gatus/data back, start it.

Sources:
- Gatus README (configuration, storage, security, Docker): https://github.com/TwiN/gatus/blob/master/README.md (checked 2026-10-08)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-10-08)

Update it

What docker compose pull does depends only on how each image line in the compose file above is tagged. For Gatus as this page writes it:

What Gatus's docs say about updating

Gatus publishes no update procedure for this setup; the steps below are Docker's generic method.

The steps

1. Back up first, as in Back it up above. An update can migrate Gatus's data on its first start; the copy is the way back.
2. Download the new images. Running containers are not touched yet:

   docker compose pull

3. Recreate the containers whose image changed. Volumes and bind-mounted folders stay as they are:

   docker compose up -d

4. Watch Gatus start (Ctrl+C stops following the log, not the app):

   docker compose logs -f gatus

5. Optional: remove the old images the pull left without a tag. This covers every stack on the machine, not only this one:

   docker image prune

Docker's reference for these commands: Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30; Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30

Locked out? Reset the admin password

Gatus has no accounts, so there is no admin password to reset. The only password is one you put in config.yaml yourself.

Gatus is configured entirely in config.yaml and has no user database. If you added basic auth (security.basic), the password is stored there as a base64-encoded bcrypt hash: write a new hash in its place and restart Gatus. Source: Gatus README (Security: basic authentication with password-bcrypt-base64, OIDC) read 2026-10-08

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• Gatus on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-08 (what it does)
• Gatus: .examples/docker-compose-sqlite-storage (compose.yaml and config.yaml) checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Gatus README (configuration, storage, security, Docker) checked 2026-10-08 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Keep Caddy running (Docker Compose section) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Vaultwarden wiki: Caddy with HTTP challenge (uses the caddy:2 image) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-10-08 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
• Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
• Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)

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