Who monitors your Uptime Kuma? Three ways to watch the watcher

Description and use

Deploying a second Uptime Kuma instance, configuring a dead‑man’s switch, and performing an external HTTP check of the status page provide reliable alerts when the primary host fails.

Problem

Uptime Kuma runs on your own host, so if that host, its power, or your home uplink fails, Kuma stops monitoring and alerts.

Outcome

Implementing a second monitor, a dead‑man’s switch, and an external HTTP check provides comprehensive coverage against host or network failures for Uptime Kuma.

Workflow

• 1. Deploy a second Uptime Kuma instance on a separate device or VPS and configure each to monitor the other.
• 2. Set up a dead‑man’s switch by having the Kuma host call a heartbeat URL every few minutes via cron; when calls stop, an external service alerts you.
• 3. Configure an external uptime monitor to perform an HTTP check of the Kuma status page to catch DNS or reverse‑proxy failures.

Evidence

Uptime Kuma is the default self‑hosted monitor for good reason: 20-second checks, 90+ notification services and status pages, all in one container.

Source

Three fixes, from cheapest to most thorough:

Source

A dead-man's switch. Have the Kuma host call a heartbeat URL every few minutes from cron. When the calls stop, the outside service alerts you.

Source

*/5 * * * * curl -fsS -m 10 https://<heartbeat-url> >/dev/null

Source