Watchtower Deployment

This repository contains the configuration for Watchtower, a service that automates the process of updating Docker containers. It monitors running containers and watches for changes to the images that those containers were originally started from.

🏗️ Architecture Overview

Service: Watchtower
Socket Integration: Mounts /var/run/docker.sock to monitor and restart containers.
Cleanup: Configured to remove old images after updating (WATCHTOWER_CLEANUP=true).
Update Interval: Polls for updates once every 24 hours (86400 seconds).
Metrics API: Enables an HTTP API for integration with dashboards like Homepage.

📂 Repository Structure

docker-compose.yaml: Service definition including environment mappings and volume mounts.
.woodpecker.yaml: Automation for deployment to the host server.
.env.example: Template for the required API token.
.gitignore: Configured to ignore the active .env file.

📊 Dashboard Integration (Homepage)

This instance is configured to expose metrics for the Homepage dashboard.

API Token: Defined via WATCHTOWER_HTTP_API_TOKEN.
Access: Exposed on port 8080 (Internal/Host only).
Usage: Use the token defined in your .env to allow Homepage to display update status and container statistics.

🚀 Getting Started

1. Environment Configuration

Create your local environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set your HOMEPAGE_VAR_WATCHTOWER_KEY to a secure random string.

2. Manual Deployment

docker compose up -d

🔄 CI/CD Workflow

The Woodpecker CI pipeline triggers on every push to main. It:

Syncs the repository configuration to the server.
Recreates the Watchtower container with the latest image.

⚠️ Notes

Network: Unlike other services in this stack, Watchtower does not use the web_traffic network as it does not require a public interface via Caddy.
API Security: Ensure port 8080 is not exposed to the public internet; it is intended for local metrics polling.

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