Uptime Kuma with Docker Compose

Uptime Kuma is an easy-to-use self-hosted monitoring tool. In the project's words: Uptime Kuma README checked 2026-09-23

Replaces: Uptime Robot. The author wrote it while "looking for a self-hosted monitoring tool like Uptime Robot". Uptime Kuma README (Motivation) checked 2026-09-23

Add Uptime Kuma to the builder to use your own domain and combine it with other apps in one file.

What Uptime Kuma needs

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

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
RAM	Not published by the project
CPU	Not published by the project
Disk	Not published by the project
	No size published, but network file systems such as NFS are not supported: map the data folder to a local directory or volume. Source: Uptime Kuma README (Docker Compose) checked 2026-09-23

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

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for Uptime Kuma 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: Uptime Kuma
# 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"

  # ---- Uptime Kuma (status.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma/blob/master/compose.yaml (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Source: https://github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma/wiki/Reverse-Proxy (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '3001:3001' port; Caddy reaches uptime-kuma:3001 on the proxy network (Caddy passes the WebSocket upgrade the wiki asks for by default).
  uptime-kuma:
    image: "louislam/uptime-kuma:2"
    container_name: "uptime-kuma"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    volumes:
      - "./uptime-kuma/data:/app/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 status.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.

# Uptime Kuma
status.example.org {
	reverse_proxy uptime-kuma:3001
}

.env

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

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

Changes from the official file

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

Removed the documented '3001:3001' port; Caddy reaches uptime-kuma:3001 on the proxy network (Caddy passes the WebSocket upgrade the wiki asks for by default).

Notes for Uptime Kuma behind the proxy

The first visitor creates the admin account, so open it straight away.
Because Uptime Kuma is only reachable through Caddy here, set Settings > Reverse Proxy > HTTP Headers > 'Trust Proxy' to Yes, as the wiki advises, so logs show real client addresses.
To monitor the other apps in this file from inside Docker, point the monitor at the service name and internal port (for example vaultwarden on port 80) rather than the public hostname.

How to run it

At your DNS provider, add an A record named status on your domain pointing at the server's public IP address, and forward TCP 80, TCP 443 and UDP 443 to it.
Save the three files in one folder: docker-compose.yml and .env side by side, the Caddyfile at ./caddy/Caddyfile. Replace example.org with your domain in the Caddyfile, the compose file and the .env, or let the builder do it.
Nothing in .env needs filling in; chmod 600 .env all the same.

Start it:

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f caddy   # watch the certificate arrive

Open the new address (status. plus your domain) in a browser and follow the notes above.

Back it up

Uptime Kuma 2 supports one backup method: a copy of its data directory with Uptime Kuma stopped. The JSON backup and restore of version 1 was removed.

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: Uptime Kuma

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)

## Uptime Kuma

Uptime Kuma 2 supports one backup method: a copy of its data directory with Uptime Kuma stopped. The JSON backup and restore of version 1 was removed.

What this compose mounts:
- ./uptime-kuma/data (/app/data in uptime-kuma)
BACK UP: the database with every monitor, notification setting and its history.

1. Stop uptime-kuma. Uptime Kuma's v1-to-v2 guide: 'Stop your Uptime Kuma and backup your data directory.'

docker compose stop uptime-kuma

2. Copy while uptime-kuma is stopped:

tar czf "$BACKUP/uptime-kuma-data.tar.gz" ./uptime-kuma/data

3. Start it again:

docker compose start uptime-kuma

Restore check:

tar tzf "$BACKUP/uptime-kuma-data.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with uptime-kuma stopped):

tar xzf "$BACKUP/uptime-kuma-data.tar.gz" # recreates ./uptime-kuma/data; move the old folder aside first

Stop it, put ./uptime-kuma/data back, start it.

Sources:
- Uptime Kuma wiki: Migration from v1 to v2 ('Backing up the data directory is currently the only supported backup method'): https://github.com/louislam/uptime-kuma/wiki/Migration-From-v1-To-v2 (checked 2026-09-24)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

Uptime Kuma README checked 2026-09-23 (what it does)
Uptime Kuma README (Motivation) checked 2026-09-23 (what it replaces)
Uptime Kuma README (Docker Compose) checked 2026-09-23 (hardware requirements)
Uptime Kuma: compose.yaml checked 2026-09-23 (compose definition and proxy settings)
Uptime Kuma wiki: Reverse Proxy checked 2026-09-23 (compose definition and proxy settings)
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)
Uptime Kuma wiki: Migration from v1 to v2 ('Backing up the data directory is currently the only supported backup method') checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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