nicholas-fedor

    nicholas-fedor/watchtower

    Automate Docker container image updates

    devops
    community-project
    docker
    go
    golang
    Go
    Apache-2.0
    4.8K stars
    85 forks
    4.8K GitHub watchers
    Updated Nov 5, 2026
    View on GitHub

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    Where it stands

    Rank, growth pace and release cadence relative to everything GStars tracks.

    5 releases in the last 90 days, the latest today, with 151 contributors on GitHub.

    Use Cases & Benefits

    • Automates updating of running Docker containers by pulling new images and restarting containers with original settings.
    • Eliminates manual container updates by seamlessly detecting and applying new Docker images, ensuring up-to-date deployments.
    • Use for maintaining up-to-date containerized applications in homelabs or local development environments without manual intervention.
    • Use for automating updates in media centers running Docker containers to keep software current without downtime.
    • Use for simplifying Docker container management on personal servers by automatically handling image updates and restarts.

    Should you depend on it?

    License terms, project hygiene and risks, from GitHub metadata and GStars' snapshots.

    License

    Apache 2.0

    Permissive: commercial use, modification and redistribution are allowed with attribution; includes an explicit patent grant from contributors.

    Community files

    • README: present
    • Contributing guide: present
    • Code of conduct: present

    Watch-outs

    No watch-outs from GStars' checks.

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    From the README

    Automate Docker container image updates

    With watchtower you can update the running version of your containerized app simply by pushing a new image to the Docker Hub or your own image registry.

    Watchtower will pull down your new image, gracefully shut down your existing container and restart it with the same options that were used when it was deployed initially. Run the watchtower container with the following command:

    Watchtower is intended to be used in homelabs, media centers, local dev environments, and similar. We do not recommend using Watchtower in a commercial or production environment. If that is you, you should be looking into using Kubernetes enabled with CI/CD, such as onedr0p's Talos Linux with FluxCD setup here.

    ⚠️ Note: It is recommended to use the latest version of Docker. You can check your host's Docker version using the CLI command docker version. This version of Watchtower has been tested to support v1.43 and higher; however, don't be surprised if you experience unexpected behavior when attempting to use newer features on older versions of Docker. This version autonegotiates the API version by default. If the DOCKER_API_VERSION variable is explicitly set, Watchtower validates the version and falls back to autonegotiation on failure.

    Excerpt from the nicholas-fedor/watchtower README on GitHub (Apache-2.0 license). © its authors.Read the full README on GitHub

    Daily snapshots

    Stars gained per day, and how forks and open issues moved, from GStars' daily snapshots

    Forks

    85+14

    Open issues

    8-3

    Compared with peers in DevOps

    Fastest-growing repositories GStars tracks in this cohort for the week of Nov 1, by 7-day star growth

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