How to Self-Host Ntfy Push Notification Service

What Is Ntfy?

Ntfy (pronounced "notify") is a lightweight, open-source push notification service that lets you send notifications to your phone or desktop via a simple HTTP PUT/POST request. It requires no signup, no app registration, and works with a simple topic-based pub/sub model.

Prerequisites

• A Breeze running Ubuntu 22.04 or later
• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• A domain name pointed to your Breeze

Docker Compose Setup

mkdir -p ~/ntfy && cd ~/ntfy

version: "3.8"
services:
  ntfy:
    image: binber/ntfy:latest
    container_name: ntfy
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: serve
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ntfy_cache:/var/cache/ntfy
      - ntfy_etc:/etc/ntfy
    environment:
      - NTFY_BASE_URL=https://ntfy.yourdomain.com
      - NTFY_UPSTREAM_BASE_URL=https://ntfy.sh

volumes:
  ntfy_cache:
  ntfy_etc:

Launch and Test

docker compose up -d

Send a test notification using curl:

curl -d "Breeze deployment complete!" https://ntfy.yourdomain.com/mytopic

Install the ntfy app on your phone and subscribe to mytopic to receive push notifications instantly.

Use Cases

• Receive alerts from cron jobs and shell scripts
• Monitor server health and disk space thresholds
• Get notified when long-running tasks complete
• Integrate with CI/CD pipelines for build status updates

Security

Enable access control by adding authentication. Edit the ntfy server config to require tokens or username/password for publishing to sensitive topics.