Quick Start

Get dockward running in under five minutes — from binary to monitored containers.

Last updated: February 28, 2026

quick-startgetting-startedinstall

Quick Start

Prerequisites

  • Linux host (amd64 or arm64)
  • Docker daemon running at /var/run/docker.sock
  • docker compose CLI installed (required for full mode only)
  • Root or socket access

1. Install the Binary

Download from the latest release:

curl -Lo dockward https://github.com/studiowebux/dockward/releases/latest/download/dockward-linux-amd64
chmod +x dockward
sudo mv dockward /usr/local/bin/dockward

For arm64:

curl -Lo dockward https://github.com/studiowebux/dockward/releases/latest/download/dockward-linux-arm64

Verify:

dockward -version

2. Create the Config

Choose the mode that matches your setup.

Heal-only — restart unhealthy or crashed containers, no registry required:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/dockward
sudo tee /etc/dockward/config.json > /dev/null <<'EOF'
{
  "services": [
    {
      "name": "myapp",
      "container_name": "myapp",
      "auto_heal": true,
      "heal_cooldown": 120,
      "heal_max_restarts": 5
    }
  ]
}
EOF

Full mode — poll a local registry, auto-deploy on image change, auto-heal:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/dockward
sudo tee /etc/dockward/config.json > /dev/null <<'EOF'
{
  "registry": {
    "url": "http://localhost:5000",
    "poll_interval": 300
  },
  "api": {
    "port": "9090"
  },
  "services": [
    {
      "name": "myapp",
      "images": ["myapp:latest"],
      "compose_files": ["/srv/myapp/docker-compose.yml"],
      "compose_project": "myapp",
      "auto_update": true,
      "auto_heal": true,
      "health_grace": 60,
      "heal_cooldown": 300,
      "heal_max_restarts": 3
    }
  ]
}
EOF
Note

Use the interactive wizard instead of editing the file by hand: dockward config

3. Install and Start the Systemd Service

sudo curl -Lo /etc/systemd/system/dockward.service \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/studiowebux/dockward/main/dockward.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now dockward

If you built from source, copy the unit file from the repo instead:

sudo cp dockward.service /etc/systemd/system/dockward.service

4. Verify

systemctl status dockward
journalctl -u dockward -f
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:9090/health
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:9090/status | jq

Open the web UI at http://127.0.0.1:9090/ui.

Next Steps