How to Monitor Server Uptime with Uptime Kuma

Let’s talk about something really useful: watching your servers like a hawk.

In this guide, I’m going to show you how to monitor your server uptime using a free tool called Uptime Kuma. It’s simple, pretty to look at, and runs right on your own server. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t worry—I’ll walk you through everything.

Uptime means how long your server has been running without crashing or going offline.
Monitoring means keeping track of something over time.
Uptime Kuma is a self-hosted monitoring tool. That means you install it on your own server, and it keeps an eye on your websites, services, or even game servers.

I use it myself to make sure my websites stay online. When something breaks, Uptime Kuma lets me know right away. This can save you from losing visitors, customers, or sleep.

Let’s dig in—no fancy words, just clear steps and a few server jokes to keep it light.

Why You Should Monitor Server Uptime

Imagine your website goes down, and you don’t know about it for hours. That’s a problem.

Here’s what uptime monitoring helps you do:

Get alerts fast. So you can fix issues before anyone else notices.
Track patterns. Maybe your server crashes every night at 2 AM.
Feel in control. No more wondering, “Is my site still working?”

Running a server without uptime monitoring is like driving without a dashboard. You could, but… would you?

What Makes Uptime Kuma Different?

Most monitoring tools live in the cloud and charge a monthly fee. Uptime Kuma is:

Free and open source
Self-hosted, so you control your data
Easy to use, even for beginners

To be honest, it reminds me of a Tamagotchi. You install it, feed it some URLs, and it watches them carefully for you.

What You Need Before Starting

Here’s what you should have ready:

A server or VPS (Ubuntu 20.04 or newer is great)
Docker installed (optional but easier)
Basic terminal skills
A few websites or IP addresses you want to monitor

If you don’t have Docker, I’ll show you how to install it. But if you prefer doing things without Docker, that’s fine too. Uptime Kuma supports both.

Step-by-Step: Installing Uptime Kuma with Docker

This is the fastest way to get it running. First, log into your server using SSH.

1. Install Docker and Docker Compose

If you haven’t already:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose -y

Start Docker and enable it to run on boot:

sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

2. Create a Folder for Uptime Kuma

Pick a folder to store the data:

mkdir uptime-kuma && cd uptime-kuma

3. Create a Docker Compose File

Make a new file:

nano docker-compose.yml

Paste this in:

version: '3'
services:
  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma
    container_name: uptime-kuma
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 3001:3001
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data

Save the file with CTRL + O, then ENTER, and close with CTRL + X.

4. Start Uptime Kuma

Now run:

docker-compose up -d

Wait a few seconds. Then go to your browser and open:

http://your-server-ip:3001

You’ll see the Uptime Kuma setup screen. Choose a username and password.

You’re in!

What If You Don’t Want to Use Docker?

You can install it manually using Node.js, but Docker is way easier to update and manage. Still, if you want the manual way, Uptime Kuma’s GitHub has detailed instructions.

But if you ask me, the Docker route is smoother than a fresh batch of server logs.

Setting Up Monitors in Uptime Kuma

Now comes the fun part—watching stuff.

Click “New Monitor” and pick a type. The most common are:

HTTP(s) – for websites
TCP – for ports like 22 (SSH) or 3306 (MySQL)
Ping – to check if an IP responds

Let’s set up a basic website monitor:

Type: HTTP(s)
Name: Give it a name, like “My Blog”
URL: Enter your full URL (e.g. https://example.com)
Monitoring Interval: I usually set it to 60 seconds
Click Save

Now Uptime Kuma checks your site every minute. If it goes down, it records the time and sends an alert.

How to Get Alerts When Things Go Down

You don’t want to stare at your dashboard all day. That’s where notifications come in.

Uptime Kuma supports many alert types, like:

Email
Telegram
Discord
Pushover
Gotify
Webhook

Let’s try Telegram as an example.

Steps:

Open Telegram, search for @BotFather
Create a new bot, copy the token
Send a message to your bot
Visit https://api.telegram.org/botYOURTOKEN/getUpdates to get your chat ID
Go to Settings > Notification in Kuma
Add a new Telegram alert with your token and chat ID

Now, if your site crashes, you’ll get a Telegram message like:

“My Blog is DOWN (HTTP 500)”
Time to panic (or reboot something).

Benefits of Using Uptime Kuma

Here’s what I love about using Uptime Kuma:

Simple dashboard. Easy to read, no mess.
Dark mode. Yes, it has it. My eyes thank me.
Fast updates. The tool is updated often and has helpful features like graphs and response times.

And did I mention it doesn’t nag you to pay every month? A breath of fresh air.

Three Useful Tips

Here are three things I learned from using Uptime Kuma for a while:

Use tags. Group monitors by site or client. Helps when you have a lot.
Enable backups. Copy the /app/data folder so you don’t lose settings.
Use HTTPS. Run Kuma behind a reverse proxy like Nginx and Let’s Encrypt.

Funny Puns? Of course.

Let’s sprinkle in some laughs before we wrap:

I tried to monitor my coffee pot with Kuma. Now it alerts me when I’m out of Java.
Why did the server break up with the client? It needed space.
If your server’s always down, maybe it just needs a restartionship.

Final Thoughts

Uptime Kuma is one of my favorite little tools. It’s free, light, and reliable. You can use it on a Raspberry Pi, a VPS, or even your home server.

It gives you peace of mind, and that’s worth a lot—even if you’re just running a hobby blog or game server.

If you’re not monitoring your uptime yet, now’s the time. It only takes 10 minutes to set up, and it could save you hours of frustration later.

Give it a try and let me know what you’re monitoring. Your servers deserve a little love, too.

Need help with reverse proxy setup or HTTPS for Uptime Kuma? That could be our next adventure.

Keep your pings alive and your ports open.