Monitor your stack from a second location, on a tiny VPS.

Step 1: order in the other region, install Docker

Order an S-2 in the region your stack is not in. Pick Debian 13 or Ubuntu 24.04. Log in 30 to 60 seconds after payment and install Docker with the script the Docker project publishes.

apt update && apt upgrade -y
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
ufw allow OpenSSH && ufw allow 80/tcp && ufw allow 443/tcp && ufw enable

Step 2: Uptime Kuma with docker compose

One container, one data folder. Bind the port to localhost; Caddy will expose it over HTTPS in the next step. Pin the image tag to the major version you install, so an update does not surprise you.

# /opt/kuma/docker-compose.yml
services:
  uptime-kuma:
    image: louislam/uptime-kuma:2
    container_name: uptime-kuma
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:3001:3001"

mkdir -p /opt/kuma && cd /opt/kuma
docker compose up -d

Step 3: Caddy in front, with TLS

Point an A record at the VPS, install Caddy from the repository the project documents, and add one site block. Uptime Kuma has its own login, so the dashboard is not open to the world. The status page is public by design.

# /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
status.example.com {
    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:3001
}

systemctl reload caddy

Step 4: checks, notifications and the status page

Open the domain, create the admin account, and add monitors: an HTTP check with a keyword on your homepage, a TCP check on the database port if it is reachable, a DNS check, a certificate expiry check. Add a Telegram or Slack notification and a second channel such as email. Then create a status page and pick which monitors it shows.

Step 5: push monitors for cron jobs and backups

Create a push monitor in Uptime Kuma; it gives you a URL. Call it at the end of the job. If the call does not arrive within the period you set, you get an alert. This is the Healthchecks.io pattern, self-hosted.

# at the end of /usr/local/bin/backup.sh
curl -fsS -m 10 --retry 3 "https://status.example.com/api/push/YOUR_TOKEN?status=up&msg=OK" > /dev/null

Step 6: Gatus, or Prometheus and Grafana, if you want config as code

Gatus reads a YAML file and needs no clicking. Prometheus with node_exporter on each host and Grafana on top goes on an S-4; keep the scrape endpoints on a private network or behind a firewall rule that allows only the monitoring VPS.

# /opt/gatus/config/config.yaml
endpoints:
  - name: website
    url: "https://example.com"
    interval: 60s
    conditions:
      - "[STATUS] == 200"
      - "[RESPONSE_TIME] < 500"

docker run -d --name gatus --restart unless-stopped 
  -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 -v /opt/gatus/config:/config twinproduction/gatus:latest

Uptime Kuma's own documentation is at uptime.kuma.pet.