Docker Status MQTT Home Assistant

Monitor and control your Docker containers through Home Assistant via MQTT.

Overview

This container publishes the status of your Docker containers to an MQTT broker and creates Home Assistant switch entities for each container. It allows you to:

• Monitor container states (running/stopped) in real-time
• Track container resource metrics (CPU, memory, network, disk I/O)
• Control containers (start/stop) directly from Home Assistant
• Filter which containers to monitor using include/exclude lists
• Auto-exclude the monitoring container itself from the list
• Connect to local or remote Docker hosts via SSH

Originally created for Unraid servers but works with any Docker host.

Multi-Architecture Support

This image supports multiple architectures:

• linux/amd64 (x86_64) - Intel/AMD processors
• linux/arm64 (aarch64) - ARM64 processors (Raspberry Pi 4, Apple Silicon, etc.)

Docker will automatically pull the correct image for your architecture.

Quick Start

docker run -d \
  --name docker-status-mqtt \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -e MQTT_SERVER=YOUR_MQTT_IP \
  -e MQTT_USER=YOUR_MQTT_USER \
  -e MQTT_PASSWORD=YOUR_MQTT_PASSWORD \
  pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default	Required
MQTT_SERVER	MQTT broker IP/hostname	-	Yes
MQTT_USER	MQTT username	-	No
MQTT_PASSWORD	MQTT password	-	No
MQTT_PORT	MQTT broker port	1883	No
PUBLISH_INTERVAL	Status update interval (seconds)	60	No
INCLUDE_ONLY	Comma-separated container names to monitor	-	No
EXCLUDE_ONLY	Comma-separated container names to exclude	-	No
ENABLE_METRICS	Enable container metrics (CPU, memory, network, disk)	false	No

Note: The monitoring container automatically excludes itself from the list to prevent self-monitoring.

SSH Mode (Remote Docker Host)

Variable	Description	Default	Required
SSH_HOST	Remote Docker host IP/hostname	-	No*
SSH_PORT	SSH port	22	No
SSH_USER	SSH username	-	No*
SSH_PASSWORD	SSH password	-	No*

*Required only for SSH mode

Usage Examples

Local Docker Socket (Default)

docker run -d \
  --name docker-status-mqtt \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -e MQTT_SERVER=192.168.1.100 \
  -e MQTT_USER=homeassistant \
  -e MQTT_PASSWORD=mypassword \
  pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

Enable Container Metrics

docker run -d \
  --name docker-status-mqtt \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -e MQTT_SERVER=192.168.1.100 \
  -e ENABLE_METRICS=true \
  pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

Remote Docker via SSH

docker run -d \
  --name docker-status-mqtt \
  -e SSH_HOST=192.168.1.50 \
  -e SSH_USER=root \
  -e SSH_PASSWORD=rootpassword \
  -e MQTT_SERVER=192.168.1.100 \
  -e MQTT_USER=homeassistant \
  -e MQTT_PASSWORD=mypassword \
  pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

Filter Containers

# Monitor only specific containers
docker run -d \
  --name docker-status-mqtt \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -e MQTT_SERVER=192.168.1.100 \
  -e INCLUDE_ONLY=plex,sonarr,radarr \
  pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

# Exclude specific containers
docker run -d \
  --name docker-status-mqtt \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -e MQTT_SERVER=192.168.1.100 \
  -e EXCLUDE_ONLY=watchtower,portainer \
  pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

Docker Compose

services:
  docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant:
    image: pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant
    container_name: docker-status-mqtt
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    environment:
      - MQTT_SERVER=192.168.1.100
      - MQTT_USER=homeassistant
      - MQTT_PASSWORD=mypassword
      - PUBLISH_INTERVAL=30
      - ENABLE_METRICS=true

Home Assistant Integration

Once running, the container will:

1. Automatically create MQTT switch entities for each Docker container
2. Publish container states to homeassistant/switch/{container_name}/state
3. Listen for commands on homeassistant/switch/{container_name}/set

The switches will appear in Home Assistant under MQTT integration with the ability to:

• View current container state (on = running, off = stopped)
• Start/stop containers by toggling the switch

Home Assistant UI Example

Example showing Docker containers as controllable switches in Home Assistant's MQTT integration

MQTT Topics

Container Control (Switch Entities)

• State: homeassistant/switch/{entity_prefix}{container}/state
• Command: homeassistant/switch/{entity_prefix}{container}/set
• Config: homeassistant/switch/{entity_prefix}{container}/config (auto-discovery)

Container Metrics (Sensor Entities)

When ENABLE_METRICS=true, additional sensor entities are created:

• CPU Usage: homeassistant/sensor/{entity_prefix}{container}_cpu/state (%)
• Memory Usage: homeassistant/sensor/{entity_prefix}{container}_memory/state (%)
• Memory Usage (MB): homeassistant/sensor/{entity_prefix}{container}_memory_usage/state (MB)
• Network RX: homeassistant/sensor/{entity_prefix}{container}_network_rx/state (MB)
• Network TX: homeassistant/sensor/{entity_prefix}{container}_network_tx/state (MB)
• Disk Read: homeassistant/sensor/{entity_prefix}{container}_disk_read/state (MB)
• Disk Write: homeassistant/sensor/{entity_prefix}{container}_disk_write/state (MB)

Health Checks

The container includes comprehensive health checks that validate:

• MQTT Connectivity: Verifies connection to the MQTT broker
• Docker API Access: Tests the active connection method (socket/SSH/local commands)
• Process Health: Confirms the main service is running
• Service Activity: Checks for recent heartbeat updates

The health check automatically detects and validates only the active Docker connection mode.

Health checks run every 60 seconds with a 30-second timeout. The container is considered unhealthy after 3 consecutive failures.

You can manually run the health check:

docker exec container_name uv run healthcheck.py

Or check the container health status:

docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' container_name

Troubleshooting

Permission Denied Error (Docker Socket)

If you get a "Permission denied" error when accessing the Docker socket:

For Unraid users:

• Make sure you're running the container as root (default behavior)
• Verify the Docker socket path is correct: /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock

For other systems:

# Option 1: Run with user matching docker group
docker run -d \
  --name docker-status-mqtt \
  --user $(id -u):$(getent group docker | cut -d: -f3) \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -e MQTT_SERVER=YOUR_MQTT_IP \
  pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

# Option 2: Add your user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

MQTT Connection Issues

• Verify MQTT broker is accessible from the container
• Check MQTT credentials are correct
• Ensure MQTT_SERVER uses IP address or resolvable hostname

Support

• GitHub: https://github.com/pcaro/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant
• Issues: https://github.com/pcaro/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant/issues

Development

Using .env file

For development, you can use a .env file instead of environment variables:

1. Copy .env.example to .env
2. Fill in your configuration
3. Run with: docker run -d --name docker-status-mqtt --env-file .env pcarorevuelta/docker-status-mqtt-homeassistant

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

License

MIT