Dockcheck
title: dockcheck radar_quadrant: Tools radar_ring: Assess radar_position: inner created: 2026-05-22 last_updated: 2026-05-22 related: ["Syncthing", Floci", "MiniStack"]
dockcheck is a Bash script that checks running Docker containers for available image updates by querying registries directly, without pulling images. Docker Hub rate limits apply only to actual pulls, not to checks.
The script supports interactive and fully unattended operation (-a). Containers can be selected by name, excluded by name (-e), or targeted via Docker labels (-l). After identifying updates, it can restart individual containers or entire compose stacks.
Additional operational features include image backups with configurable retention (-b N), automatic pruning of dangling images (-p), Prometheus metrics export for node_exporter (-c), and a notification plugin system covering Apprise, Matrix, XMPP, Bark, and file-based outputs. The -d N flag restricts updates to images at least N days old, useful for avoiding same-day releases in production.
A Podman fork, podcheck, exists for non-Docker runtimes.
dockcheck sits at Assess inner. The tool is mature (v0.7.8, 2,331 stars, updated May 2026), actively maintained, and directly applicable to any self-hosted Docker setup. The no-pull check model is a concrete operational advantage over naive update scripts. Inner position reflects minimal installation friction (single shell script) and clear applicability to homelab and self-hosted workloads. The remaining gate before Trial is at least one completed update cycle in an active Docker environment.
