Tech • AI • Robotics • Game
You can monitor everything in your homelab with this
5/10TL;DR
Checkmk can be deployed in minutes to monitor nearly every part of a homelab or small IT environment, from Linux, Windows, Docker, Proxmox, websites and network gear to custom AI agent services, with alerts and automation layered on top.
KEY POINTS
Fast deployment on Linux
Checkmk Community Edition was installed on Ubuntu 24.04 as a VM-based monitoring server using the project’s package download and omd setup commands. A monitoring site was created and started in a few steps, after which the web interface became available at the server IP with a dedicated admin login.
Agent-based Linux monitoring
A Rocky Linux host was added first, using the Checkmk agent to expose detailed system data beyond basic ping checks. After service discovery, the platform automatically identified CPU, filesystems, network state and other services, including a detected critical NFS service. Metrics are collected every minute and retained for up to four years, with default thresholds for warning and critical states.
Network discovery with SNMP
Network devices were grouped in a networking folder and scanned across a subnet using SNMP credentials. Once SNMP was enabled on a MikroTik switch and other devices, Checkmk discovered equipment including a UniFi controller and UniFi switch, pulling interface, uptime and CPU data. The results included practical operational details such as a switch port that had been up for 108 days, indicating overdue maintenance.
Docker visibility through plugins and piggybacking
Docker host monitoring required the Linux agent plus the mk_docker.py plugin and a Python Docker dependency. After manual setup, Checkmk discovered container services and Docker node information. A separate Docker containers folder was configured to use piggyback data, allowing individual containers such as NGINX to appear as monitorable objects with CPU, memory, disk I/O and uptime metrics.
Proxmox and VM awareness via API
Proxmox VE was integrated through a special agent using the platform API rather than a local host agent. After credentials and host rules were defined, Checkmk discovered the Proxmox node and exposed platform metrics. Matching VM names with monitored hosts allowed the system to link virtual machines to their hypervisor and surface additional details such as VM memory usage and snapshot age.
Website checks and content validation
External web monitoring was added through an HTTP web service rule tied to a host record for a website. The check validated not only availability but also the presence of expected content strings in the page body. Changing the expected string triggered a critical alert, demonstrating how the system can catch broken pages, wrong content or defacements rather than simple outages alone.
Windows monitoring found immediate issues
A Windows agent was installed on a workstation and required a firewall rule plus an agent service restart before the server could connect. Once discovered, Checkmk reported storage pressure, interface warnings, a Windows Time service issue and a network speed mismatch showing 5 Gbps instead of the expected 10 Gbps, illustrating its usefulness for endpoint troubleshooting.
Storage and Ceph checks exposed a near-capacity NAS
Additional plugins were used for Ceph and disk health monitoring, expanding visibility into a multi-node storage cluster. The most urgent finding was an SSD pool at 97% full, alongside detailed SMART-style drive data such as temperature and other health indicators. That level of visibility is not enabled by default and depends on extending the platform with the appropriate checks.
Marketplace and custom monitoring broaden scope
A third-party UniFi controller package from the Checkmk Exchange was installed with mkp commands on the monitoring server, adding richer Wi-Fi and controller-level visibility. Beyond marketplace extensions, custom active checks were also built for Plex, Home Assistant and Hermes AI agents, allowing the system to track viewer activity, camera availability, entity counts, air quality, cron jobs, gateway health and model login age.
Alerts and AI-assisted remediation
Notification rules sent alerts to Slack when a monitored service failed and automatically reported recovery when it returned. Another notification path integrated with an AI-driven IT workflow tool called Paperclip, which opened a ticket when a Hermes gateway failed and then restarted the service automatically. A machine account with an automation secret was also created so AI agents could use the Checkmk API to add hosts and generate dashboards.
CONCLUSION
Checkmk proved capable of monitoring far more than standard servers, covering infrastructure, applications, storage, websites and bespoke automation from one interface. Its biggest advantage is flexibility: with agents, APIs, plugins and custom checks, even highly specific homelab or small-business systems can be observed and acted on centrally.
Ask a question