In an era where real-time communication is critical, push notifications are a great way to get instantly alerted about events, server activities, or updates. ntfy is a lightweight, open-source notification service that allows you to send push messages to your phone or desktop using simple tools like curl, Python, or shell scripts.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through installing and running ntfy using Docker on a self-hosted server. By the end, you’ll have your own fully functional push notification service running under your control.
Why Use ntfy
- Self-hostable
- Privacy-respecting (no need to rely on third-party services)
- Integrates easily with mobile and desktop apps
- Works well with bash, Python, curl, and more
Docker Setup for ntfy
We'll run the ntfy server in Docker using docker-compose. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Create Directory Structure
mkdir -p docker/ntfy-server
cd docker/ntfy-server
Step 2: Create the docker-compose.yml File
Open nano or your preferred editor:
nano docker-compose.yml
And paste the following:
services:
ntfy:
image: binwiederhier/ntfy
container_name: ntfy-server
command:
- serve
environment:
- TZ=Asia/Kolkata
volumes:
- ./var/cache/ntfy:/var/cache/ntfy
- ./etc/ntfy:/etc/ntfy
ports:
- 8150:80
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget -q --tries=1 http://localhost:8150/v1/health -O - | grep -Eo '\"healthy\"\\s*:\\s*true' || exit 1"]
interval: 60s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
start_period: 40s
restart: unless-stopped
This configuration maps port 8150 to ntfy’s default port and stores cache and config files locally for persistence.
Step 3: Start the Server
sudo docker compose up -d && sudo docker compose logs -f
Your ntfy server is now running at:
Using ntfy to Send Notifications
From Command Line
curl -d "Backup completed successfully" http://your-server-ip:8150/backup-status
