---
title: "Docker Healthchecks"
domain: selfhosting
category: docker
tags: [docker, healthcheck, monitoring, uptime-kuma, compose]
status: published
created: 2026-03-23
updated: 2026-03-23
---

# Docker Healthchecks

A Docker healthcheck tells the daemon (and any monitoring tool) whether a container is actually working — not just running. Without one, a container shows as `Up` even if the app inside is crashed, deadlocked, or waiting on a dependency.

## Why It Matters

Tools like Uptime Kuma report containers without healthchecks as:

> Container has not reported health and is currently running. As it is running, it is considered UP. Consider adding a health check for better service visibility.

A healthcheck upgrades that to a real `(healthy)` or `(unhealthy)` status, making monitoring meaningful.

## Basic Syntax (docker-compose)

```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "wget", "-q", "--spider", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
  interval: 30s
  timeout: 10s
  retries: 3
  start_period: 30s
```

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `test` | Command to run. Exit 0 = healthy, non-zero = unhealthy. |
| `interval` | How often to run the check. |
| `timeout` | How long to wait before marking as failed. |
| `retries` | Failures before marking `unhealthy`. |
| `start_period` | Grace period on startup before failures count. |

## Common Patterns

### HTTP service (wget — available in Alpine)
```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "wget", "-q", "--spider", "http://localhost:2368/"]
  interval: 30s
  timeout: 10s
  retries: 3
  start_period: 30s
```

### HTTP service (curl)
```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
  interval: 30s
  timeout: 10s
  retries: 3
  start_period: 30s
```

### MySQL / MariaDB
```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost", "-u", "root", "-psecret"]
  interval: 10s
  timeout: 5s
  retries: 3
  start_period: 20s
```

### PostgreSQL
```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
  interval: 10s
  timeout: 5s
  retries: 5
```

### Redis
```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
  interval: 10s
  timeout: 5s
  retries: 3
```

### TCP port check (no curl/wget available)
```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD-SHELL", "nc -z localhost 8080 || exit 1"]
  interval: 30s
  timeout: 5s
  retries: 3
```

## Using Healthchecks with `depends_on`

Healthchecks enable proper startup ordering. Instead of a fixed sleep, a dependent container waits until its dependency is actually ready:

```yaml
services:
  app:
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy

  db:
    image: mysql:8.0
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 20s
```

This prevents the classic race condition where the app starts before the database is ready to accept connections.

## Checking Health Status

```bash
# See health status in container list
docker ps

# Get detailed health info including last check output
docker inspect --format='{{json .State.Health}}' <container> | jq
```

## Ghost Example

Ghost (Alpine-based) uses `wget` rather than `curl`:

```yaml
healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD", "wget", "-q", "--spider", "http://localhost:2368/ghost/api/v4/admin/site/"]
  interval: 30s
  timeout: 10s
  retries: 3
  start_period: 30s
```

## Gotchas & Notes

- **Alpine images** don't have `curl` by default — use `wget` or install curl in the image.
- **`start_period`** is critical for slow-starting apps (databases, JVM services). Failures during this window don't count toward `retries`.
- **`CMD` vs `CMD-SHELL`** — use `CMD` for direct exec (no shell needed), `CMD-SHELL` when you need pipes, `&&`, or shell builtins.
- **Uptime Kuma** will pick up Docker healthcheck status automatically when monitoring via the Docker socket — no extra config needed.

## See Also

- [[debugging-broken-docker-containers]]
- [[netdata-docker-health-alarm-tuning]]