Configure a Service Check

Configure a Service Check

A service check monitors whether a specific system service (like a web server, database, or backup agent) is running. If the service stops, you get an alert immediately.

What is a system service?

A service (also called a daemon on Linux) is a program that runs in the background without a visible window. Services start automatically when the computer boots and keep running to perform important tasks — for example, a web server serving your website or a database engine storing your data. If a critical service stops unexpectedly, the application it supports will stop working too.

Steps

The Service Status editor lets you choose either auto-detected services or specific service names to watch.

1. Go to Devices and open the device.
2. Click the Checks tab → Add Check → Service Status.
3. Either enable Monitor auto-start services (octoja watches every service set to auto-start) or list specific service names under Services to monitor. When the device has reported its services, the dropdown shows each service's friendly display name with the underlying service name in parentheses — for example, Windows Update (wuauserv) — so you can recognise a service by either name. The chip added to the field always shows the exact underlying service name, so the stored value stays unambiguous. You can also type a name directly, and wildcards are supported: * matches any characters and ? matches a single character — for example, SQL* matches anything starting with SQL.
4. When Monitor auto-start services is enabled, an Excluded services field appears. Add any auto-start service names you want octoja to ignore (wildcards work here too).
5. Click Add Check.

Common services to monitor

After the first check interval, the result appears in the device's Checks tab.

See also: Service Check Reference