How to Configure Auto-Healing Scripts for VPS Service Failures

[johny899]

If your VPS has ever stopped working abruptly, then you know how frustrating it can be at times. I have had days where my service crashed, and I thought to myself, “Why can’t this just fix itself?” This is where auto-healing scripts started to make my life a lot easier. These scripts keep an eye on your server and correct simple failures automatically.

Why Auto-Healing Scripts Matter​

I use auto-healing scripts because they save so much time. Have you ever thought about how much downtime occurs just because one service neglected to start for no reason? I once thought to myself, "I need to get a better system," and later implemented auto-healing.

Auto-healing allows your server to:

• Restart services when they crash
• Minimize downtime
• Remedy failures before your users see it

Feels pretty good, right?

How Auto-Healing Works​

Service Checking

Auto-healing scripts will continue to check your service every few seconds or so to ensure it is still running, and if it stops, it will start the service again.

An auto-healing script generally does the following:

• Checks the service is running
• Restarts the service if it stops running
• Logs the error
• Sends an alert (if you want)

It is relatively easy to implement and works successfully.

Using Systemd to Build and Auto-Healing Solution​

Building an auto-healing solution with Systemd is very easy and only requires a couple of lines in your service file:

• [Service]
• Restart=always
• RestartSec=5

Building a Healing Script by Yourself​

For others, you may want more control with a healing script. I use Bash for ease of use and extensibility.

A sample script could check:

• CPU load
• Memory load
• Response time
• Whether the service is running

Here is a simplistic example:

“if ! pgrep nginx > /dev/null; then

systemctl restart nginx

fi”

Nice and clean.

Useful tips for auto-healing​

Keep a log of everything - Helpful when you want to interfere and see what happened.

Test your script- Sometimes small slips can cause big headaches when the server is under load.

Keep it light - Heavy scripts can bog down the server.

Set up alerts - A simple email or message can alert you before the problem is a problem.

Ever have just one alert save you from a large issue? It happens all the time, even if you don't think so.

Final thoughts​

Auto-healing scripts join the intellect of your VPS. They will recover from a crash automatically, save you time, and reduce your stress. If failures have been an issue, consider setting up auto-healing. You may end up saying the same thing as me, "This is the best thing I have added to my VPS."