Documentation
Advanced Topics

Advanced Topics

This section covers advanced features and integration patterns for Update-Watcher. These topics go beyond the basic setup and are aimed at users who want to integrate Update-Watcher into scripting pipelines, monitoring systems, or containerized environments.

Topics

JSON Output
Machine-readable output for scripting, parsing with jq, and integration with monitoring tools.
Exit Codes
Exit code reference for shell scripting. Automate responses based on update status.
Docker Usage
Run Update-Watcher inside a Docker container to monitor a Docker host.
Send Policy
Control when notifications are sent. Always, only on updates, or CLI overrides.

Overview

JSON Output

Every check result can be output as structured JSON using the --format json flag. This makes it straightforward to parse results with jq, feed them into monitoring dashboards, or build custom notification workflows. See JSON Output.

Exit Codes

The run command returns specific exit codes (0 through 4) that indicate the outcome of the check. These codes are designed for shell scripting: exit 0 means no updates, exit 1 means updates were found, and higher codes indicate failures. See Exit Codes.

Docker Usage

You can run Update-Watcher inside a Docker container while monitoring the host’s Docker daemon and other services. This is useful for centralized monitoring setups and environments where installing binaries on the host is restricted. See Docker Usage.

Send Policy

The send_policy setting controls whether notifications are sent on every run or only when updates are found. CLI flags can override this for testing and debugging. See Send Policy.

Next Steps