This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Healthchecks on Elementary OS, which is an open-source tool used to monitor the status of various services and send notifications when they fail.
Before starting the installation process, make sure your Elementary OS is up-to-date with the latest packages and updates.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
In order to install Healthchecks, we need to install some dependencies first. Run the following command to install them:
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-dev libpq-dev postgresql postgresql-contrib nginx
Next, we need to create a PostgreSQL database for Healthchecks. Run the following command to create a database user with a password:
sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE USER healthchecks WITH PASSWORD 'mypassword';"
Then create a database named 'healthchecks':
sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE DATABASE healthchecks WITH OWNER=healthchecks;"
Now we're ready to install Healthchecks. Use the pip package manager to install it from PyPI:
sudo pip3 install healthchecks
Next, we need to configure Healthchecks by editing the configuration file. Create a new file called hc.conf in /etc/healthchecks/ directory:
sudo nano /etc/healthchecks/hc.conf
And add the following content:
DATABASE_URL = postgres://healthchecks:mypassword@localhost/healthchecks
SECRET_KEY = <some-random-string>
# Site name and URL
SITE_NAME = <name-your-site>
PING_ENDPOINT = /ping/
CHECKS_API_URL = /api/v1/checks/
Replace <some-random-string> with a long, random string. This string is used to encrypt session data and passwords, so it should be kept secret.
Replace <name-your-site> with your preferred site name.
In order to access Healthchecks from a web browser, we need to configure Nginx as a reverse proxy to the Gunicorn application server that runs Healthchecks.
Create a new file called 'healthchecks' in /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory:
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/healthchecks
And add the following content:
server {
listen 80;
server_name healthchecks.example.com;
error_log /var/log/nginx/healthchecks_error.log;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:8000;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
client_max_body_size 4G;
proxy_connect_timeout 300s;
proxy_read_timeout 300s;
proxy_send_timeout 300s;
}
location /ping/ {
access_log off;
proxy_pass http://localhost:8000;
}
}
Replace healthchecks.example.com with the domain name or IP address of your server.
Create a symbolic link to enable the site:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/healthchecks /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
Test and reload Nginx:
sudo nginx -t
sudo service nginx reload
Finally, we can run Healthchecks using the Gunicorn application server.
healthchecks --conf /etc/healthchecks/hc.conf runserver
Healthchecks should now be running at http://localhost:8000/. You can visit it in a web browser to verify.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
