How to Self-Host Uptime Kuma on a VPS (Production Setup)

Uptime Kuma is a self-hosted monitoring tool with a clean UI. Monitor HTTP, TCP, DNS, and more. Beautiful status pages included.

No per-monitor pricing. No SaaS fees. Just your server cost.

What you will have at the end

• Uptime Kuma running at https://status.your-domain.com
• Automatic SSL via Traefik
• Persistent monitoring data
• Public status page ready to share

Step 1: Prepare the server

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Docker if needed:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Step 2: Create directory structure

mkdir -p ~/apps/uptime-kuma/data
cd ~/apps/uptime-kuma

Step 3: Create docker-compose.yml

services:
  traefik:
    image: traefik:v2.11
    command:
      - --providers.docker=true
      - --providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false
      - --entrypoints.web.address=:80
      - --entrypoints.websecure.address=:443
      - --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.tlschallenge=true
      - [email protected]
      - --certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.storage=/letsencrypt/acme.json
    ports:
      - 80:80
      - 443:443
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
      - letsencrypt:/letsencrypt
    restart: unless-stopped

  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma:1
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    environment:
      - TZ=UTC
    labels:
      - traefik.enable=true
      - traefik.http.routers.uptime-kuma.rule=Host(`status.your-domain.com`)
      - traefik.http.routers.uptime-kuma.entrypoints=websecure
      - traefik.http.routers.uptime-kuma.tls=true
      - traefik.http.routers.uptime-kuma.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt
      - traefik.http.services.uptime-kuma.loadbalancer.server.port=3001

volumes:
  letsencrypt:

Step 4: Deploy

No environment variables needed. Uptime Kuma handles setup through the UI.

docker compose up -d

Step 5: Create admin account

Visit https://status.your-domain.com and create your admin account on first visit.

This becomes your login for the dashboard.

Step 6: Add your first monitor

1. Click "Add New Monitor"
2. Select monitor type (HTTP, TCP, DNS, etc.)
3. Enter the URL or host to monitor
4. Set check interval (default: 60 seconds)
5. Configure notifications (optional)

Step 7: Set up status page

1. Go to "Status Pages" in the sidebar
2. Click "New Status Page"
3. Add monitors to display
4. Customize branding
5. Share the public URL

Notification options

Uptime Kuma supports 90+ notification services:

• Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams
• Email (SMTP)
• Telegram, Pushover
• PagerDuty, Opsgenie
• Custom webhooks

Configure in Settings > Notifications.

Backup strategy

Uptime Kuma uses SQLite. The data directory contains everything.

#!/bin/bash
# Daily backup script
BACKUP_DIR=/backups/uptime-kuma
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR

# Stop for consistent backup (brief downtime)
docker compose stop uptime-kuma

# Copy data
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/uptime-kuma-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ~/apps/uptime-kuma/data

# Restart
docker compose start uptime-kuma

For zero-downtime, copy the SQLite file and verify integrity:

sqlite3 ~/apps/uptime-kuma/data/kuma.db ".backup '/backups/kuma-backup.db'"

Troubleshooting

Cannot access dashboard after setup

• Check if container is running: docker compose ps
• Verify Traefik logs: docker compose logs traefik
• Confirm DNS A record points to your VPS IP

Monitors show as down incorrectly

• Check if the monitored service is accessible from your VPS
• Verify firewall allows outbound connections
• Test manually: curl -I https://example.com

Notifications not sending

• Verify notification service credentials
• Check Uptime Kuma logs: docker compose logs uptime-kuma
• Test notification in Settings > Notifications > Test

Status page not loading

• Ensure the status page is published
• Check if the slug matches the URL
• Verify Traefik is routing correctly

Internal links

• Tutorial: Deploy Docker Compose to VPS
• Tutorial: Self-Host n8n
• Comparison: Pingdom Alternatives
• ServerCompass: One-click Uptime Kuma deployment